largest & most influential houses in American but the panic is now over & things have
subsided; but we at present as a nation present a singular spectace which is that out of
800 Banks scarcely a single One is able to redeem their notes in gold & silver SO great
has been the pressure in the whole commercial world. we do not call these Banks Broken
but merely suspended & when our currency is restored to its wonted soundness the[y]
will resume payments at least we expect SO but probably some may be swept off by
their imprudent management. Some houses [in New]2 Orleans have failed for upwards of
fifteen Millions of Dollars & in New York some days as many as seventeen failures have
taken place in a day -- I should state that this state of affairs commenced last Mch & Ap
You may be well aware that such heavy failures has given a great shock to trade &
Commerce & the Mercantile Community at large, in fact many, many, who have been
toiling for a life time to acquire wealth have been completely prostrated. The greatest
cause of all has been over trading & over speculation men getting deep in debt & from
the pressure of our Bank the supplied from that quarter were complet[ed] 3 but they who
are not pretty well acqu[ainted wth]4 the business world can form but a of the state of
things when in it tells upon all classes of m cotton fell in one week in ti 7 cents
SO
the short of. cotations & he of course has to disappoin[t] Merchants-- We still carry on
ou[r business] as usual though we have has the [worst]...time for business that I ever
seen since...| [I came] to this Country though I am determ[ined to] sell out our stocks the
very first good.... I should have done SO long since but do SO to advantage
[that]
wind up the business of our concern & turn all my [atte]ntion to Collecting in fact I
cannot tell whether we shall have realised any thing of importance, large as our Profts
appeard until we see how our Collections turn out. & when I can get affairs SO arranged I
Andrew Richey, Clinton, Mississippi, to his parents, Ireland, September 1837
Description
Andrew Richey writes to his parents expressing the sadness of missing his brother and with the heaviness of business falling on him alone. He relates that the panic of the recent widespread banking failure has passed but most banks are "suspended" with some failed. Many in the "Commerce & the Mercantile Community" have been "prostrated" by the failures, caused overall by "over speculation". James's own merchant business carries on, even though in the worst of times. He is glad "Brother & Sister Cordner "did not come out to America yet with reports of 'passengers arriving to New York and Philadelphia without number".
