Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 18, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 January 1918 — “WAMPUM” Indian Money [ARTICLE]

“WAMPUM” Indian Money

How Indian Deities Were “Tipped)” Origin at Term “Bucketahop”

By S. W. STRAUS

(Prominent New York and Chicago Banker)

Here is the story of “wampum,” the first money to be used in the United States. It consisted of clam shells, little tubes made out of clay, beads and the like. All these the Indians called by the general name of wampum, and •when the white man set foot upon these shores he found the wampum convenient for his use, not only in trading with the Indians but with other whites. The Indian name was sewan, but the European immigrants gave this legal tender the name of wampum, by which it has been known ever since. Wampum was not entirely devoid of intrinsic value. Most of the shells from which it was made wefe rare. These were made largely into beads, highly polished and strung on strings. 'Chiefs, sachems, and me'dlcine men wore great strings of these beads on 'Ceremonious occasions. Every treaty was. corroborated by laying down belts of beads. Friendships were cemented and alliances and marriages were always solemnized with an exchange of wampum. Wampum was chiefly of two kinds, white and dark purple. The white was made from the edge of the clam shells and the purple made from the shell’s heart, and was worth double the white. Considerable labor cost went into the manufacture of wampum, for a writer in the year 1714 tells us: “All wampum is made of shells which are found on the coast of Carolina, which are very large and hard, so .they are very difficult to cut.” He adds that “some English smiths have tried to drill this sort of shell money and thereby thought to get advantage, but it proved so hard that nothing could be gained.” When an Indian was buried, strings of wampum were always placed in the grave with him for convenience in purchasing the necessary supplies in the next world, pnd for use as tips to various minor Indian dieties, who ■the Indians believed were as greedy as modern head ■* " In. 1641 the use of wampum was legalized by the common council of New Amsterdam, now New York. This was next followed by an epidemic of counterfeiting, which caused a great deal of difficulty and led to the rapid depreciation of wampum as a medium of exchange. Old Peter Stuyvesant pegged around on his wooden leg and did his best to solve the problem by

declaring unstrung wampum no longer to be legal tender. This was going to the opposite extreme, and the little Dutch colony came near a financial panic. Six months later loose and imperfect wampum had to be declared legal tender. In Massachusetts wampum became legal tender in 1640, but twenty-one years later the coining of silver was authorized, and this more stable medium soon drove wampum beads out of circulation. After the Revolutionary war money was so scarce that wampum came into use again. It persisted here and there as money until the nineteenth century, and, indeed, wampum’ In various forms, including pipes and moons, were considerably used in the United States until as late as 1830. The financial requirements of the Revolutionary war resulted in the establishing of America’s first banks. The initial undertaking was the Bank of Pennsylvania, which was started in July, 1780. It was described by the well-known financier Morris as “nothing more than a patriotic subscription of continental money for the purpose of purchasing provisions for a starving army.” In the decade 1780-1790, three other financial Institutions were launched; the Bank of New York, Massachusetts Bank and the Bank of North America. This latter is generally considered to be the first bank in the United States and was capitalized at $10,000,000. Actual subscriptions, however, were very hard to secure and only $70,000 was obtained. The government contributed $200,000 in specie. The New York Stock Exchange has been traced back to a meeting of twen-ty-four brokers under a tree opposite 60 Wall street, May 17, 1792. The purpose of the meeting was to agree on uniform commissions. Thereafter the brokers met at “Tontine Coffee House,” Wall and Water streets. The final organization of the Stock Exchange was completed in 1817. The Philadelphia Stock Exchange also started in a coffee house. The malodorous “bucketshop” received its name from* England. On the east side of London loafers had a custom of going from street to street and draining every keg of beer they could find. The liquor was placed in a bucket. After it was .filled these hard characters retired to some out of the way corner and caroused, passing the bucket from one to another. The term “bueketshop,” at first meaning assemblages of this kind, came to be applied to any establishment of doubtful reputation.