Bernie wrote:
Since there is not much information available on the redemption/cancellation process, I have considered writing a paper on the subject. Bowers has several pages and the individual state obsolete books have snippets here and there. I have since branched into other areas and don’t have the time to research this complicated subjects. I always thought that utilizing the more than 28,000 obsolete high resolution scans at Heritage would be a great way to approach this, especially because they also scan the backs.
Yes, I thought of that approach too. I was hoping that there might be some more definitive source available than to try to deduce the policies based on surviving examples. Consider the specific example of the Bank of Knoxville notes I have. The burned corners could have something to do with the redemption cancellation process... or could simply mean that the notes I have were subject to some damage unrelated to the redemption process. Because notes from this bank are rare, it's very hard to draw any meaningful conclusions based on remaining notes. I can speculate, but can't be definitive.
Likewise, the fact that there are some uncancelled notes from Bank of West Tennessee may tell us something about the redemotion process... or not. I've tried running those sorts of research projects before, and the conclusions drawn from them are always questionable. I'm not saying it isn't worth the time to perform research based on surviving examples, just that I had hoped there might be more definitive data to explore (e.g. bank policy statements, newspaper accounts, government documents).
I attempted to probe on that topic some months ago by invoking the open records laws of the state of Tennessee. I was thwarted when I discovered that the open records law only applies to residents of the state (which I have not been for about 30 years now). My father, who is still a resident of the state, made a pass at getting the records but was also unsuccessful.
Anyway, I appreciate your response. I'll keep trying to find something definitive and post my results, if any.
- Greg