Promissory Note of John Hay and Others to the State Bank of Illinois, 22 March 18381
$16,666.67.
Springfield, March 22, 1838.One year after date, we, the undersigned, or either of us, promise to pay to the President,
Directors and Company of the State Bank of Illinois, sixteen thousand, six hundred and sixty-six dollars and sixty-seven cents, for value
received, negotiable and payable at the bank, in Springfield, with interest until
paid, at the rate of six per centum per annum, payable semi-annually.
<Page 2>
1The 1876 transcription of this document was made from the original, which has not
since been located.
In February 1837, the Illinois General Assembly passed an act allowing the legislature to vote for a location for a new state capital. On February
28, the legislature chose Springfield as the new Illinois state capital. Lincoln
voted for Springfield all four times. The same act that authorized the new capital
also stipulated that the chosen location donate to the state $50,000 towards construction
costs for a new statehouse. Springfield residents negotiated to make the payment in
three installments, but many of the bond holders, financially affected by the Panic of 1837, were unable to pay their promised final shares. The 101 signers here borrowed the
final installment from the State Bank of Illinois. The loan was paid off on February
19, 1846.
John Carroll Power and S. A. Power, History of the Early Settlers of Sangamon County, Illinois (Springfield, IL: Edwin A. Wilson, 1876), 47-49; An Act Permanently to Locate the Seat of Government of the State of Illinois; Illinois House Journal. 1836. 10th G.A., 1st sess. 752-59.
Printed Transcription, 2 page(s), John Carroll Power and S. A. Power, History of the Early Settlers of Sangamon County, Illinois
(Springfield, IL: Edwin A. Wilson, 1876).