Bank of Pensacola signed by Governor, John Henry Eaton - Territory of Florida 1835

Beautiful certificate from the Bank Of Pensacola issued in 1835. This historic document has a border around it with the company's name on top center. This item has the signatures of the Company’s President, Walter Gregory, Cashier, James Caitlin on the front and back. The Governor of Florida Territory, John Henry Eaton, and the Secretary, E. W. Wacker signed the document on the back. This item is over 174 years old.


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Back of Certificate



The Bank of Pensacola was chartered in 1831 and in 1835, in order to raise capital for it, the Territory agreed to lend its credit for that purpose. Accordingly, the bank printed, signed and numbered $500,000 worth of bonds possible in series A to E, numbered 1-100 each. The bank then placed these bonds in their own vault and issued a new bond payable to a consortium of Second Bank of the United States officers at Philadelphia both for principal and interest. The Bank of the United States, urgently needing funding, then sold these bonds together with one drawn up by their own Bank, payable in London at the offices of Gowan & Marx.

John Henry Eaton (June 18, 1790 – November 17, 1856) was an American politician and diplomat from Tennessee who served as U.S. Senator and as Secretary of War in the administration of Andrew Jackson. He has the distinction of serving as the youngest U.S. Senator in history, having been 28 years old at he time of his swearing-in.

He was born near Scotland Neck, Halifax County, North Carolina. His first wife was Myra Lewis. After Myra's death, He married his second wife, Peggy O'Neill.

He was a Democratic lawyer. He served in the U.S. Army during the War of 1812. He was a member of Tennessee House of Representatives from 1815 to 1816 and a U.S. Senator from Tennessee from 1818 to 1821 and again from 1821 to 1829. His apparent age of 28 at the time of his inauguration is notable; it contradicted the US Constitution's requirement that all Senators be over the age of 30. At the time, many people did not know their actual birth records; although it is not certain what occurred in this case. In any event, if challenged, he could have referred to previous under-aged Senators Armistead Mason or Henry Clay.

He was a close personal friend of Andrew Jackson. After Jackson became President he, along with Postmaster General, Amos Kendall, were the only members of the official Cabinet who were also a member of Jackson's informal circle of advisors often satirically called by Jackson detractors the "Kitchen Cabinet". (Apparently this group did, in fact, frequently meet in the White House kitchen.) He resigned his Senate seat in 1829 in order to take up appointment as Jackson's Secretary of War, a post in which he served from 1829 to 1831, when he resigned from the Cabinet over a scandal concerning his second wife, Peggy, that was known as the Petticoat Affair. He was later Governor of Florida Territory from 1834 to 1836 and ambassador to Spain from 1836 to 1840.

Eaton, a Freemason, died in Washington, D.C. on November 17, 1856. He was buried at Oak Hill Cemetery, Washington, D.C.

Eaton County, Michigan is named in his honor.

History from Wikipedia and OldCompany.com (old stock certificate research service).