Written
by Q. David Bowers, Chairman Emeritus
I recently found the following news item in an old newspaper:
“Boston, Feb. 1. Yesterday a man by the name of Jenks was
committed to jail in Dedham for having passed in this town, on Thursday,
between five and six hundred dollars counterfeit bank bills of the Farmers
Exchange Bank of Gloucester, RI, of the denomination of two, five, and ten
dollars.”
The curious matter is that this bank itself was operated by
fraudster Andrew Dexter, issued paper money without backing, and was a criminal
enterprise! Dexter, however, got off scot-free, as was usually the case with
bank defaults. He later went to the South where he became prominent in various
enterprises, including land development. The main thoroughfare in Montgomery,
Alabama, bears his name.
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