1828 HANDWRITTEN LETTER (ALS), BEMOANING A SHORTAGE OF MONEY IN AMERICA, ADDRESSED TO N & WW BILLINGS AT NEW LONDON, CONNECTICUT. DATELINED: PROVIDENCE, APRIL 1, 1828 by Mallett, E.J - 1829

Providence, Rhode Island, 1829. Original manuscript. Very Good. One page, quarto, integral address leaf, in sepia ink. In part: Mallett explains that a Mr. Westcott would deliver this letter as "...he has some business in your neighborhood & I desired him to ride over & see you. I have given some trade paper & some of my own which I would like to have discounted Our Banks are shorter than they ever were before & will not be easy again until the first of May. I have never before known such a scarcity of money....As I am not much known in your place your opinion would be serviceable....[signed] E.J. Mallett." [Bicknell's "History of the State of Rhode Island" describes E.J. Mallett as a Jackson Democrat, "of Huguenot stock and a North Carolinian by birth. Visiting Providence, he married the daughter of Governor James Fenner, in 1820, and engaged in shipping business here until 1829...." He went on to become president of St. Nicholas Bank in New York, Consul-General to Italy, and was appointed a paymaster by Lincoln in the Civil War. (See Bicknell, Vol. 2, p. 772).] [N&WW Billings Company "was established in 1823 and ceased operations in 1851. During this period the company managed at least twelve whaling vessels which, by the end of business, had made it one of the most successful whaling agencies in New London....In addition, the company operated a soap and candle making business that used oil and spermaceti, etc. taken by their whale ships" (from Mystic Seaport records)].