Stock Certificate From Buffalo Bill's Wild West Company Goes For $20,000 At R. M. Smythe & Company A stock certificate from Buffalo Bill's Wild West Company sold for $20,000 and was one of several outstanding offerings that exceeded presale estimates at the February 6-7th. R. M. Smythe & Company Wi
shs. Green. Eastern Hemisphere globe with the title "Africa The Land of Opportunity" flanked by a field hand and an ocean liner. Signed by Marcus Garvey as president. VF.*
Marcus Garvey (1887-1940) was convinced that African Americans could not prosper in countries where they were the minority race, Garvey urged a "Back to Africa" movement, and conceived of a steamship trading company trading between New York, the West Indies and Africa. Over a half million in subscriptions poured in, but the enterprise never materialized. Garvey was arrested, convicted of mail fraud, and deported to Jamaica.
Lot# 1092 (Presale Estimate - $500 to $1,000) Final Bid - $1400
Chesapeake & Ohio Canal (MD) 1838. #12. 2500 shs. People stroll along the Canal and the Potomac River at left. Signed as corporate president by George C. Washington (1789-1854), grand-nephew of George Washington, congressman and Indian treaty negotiator. Tape stain center, otherwise VF.*
This enterprise was chartered in 1828, in succession to the old Potowmack Company. Half of the six million in capital came from the States of Maryland and Virginia as well as the cities of Washington, Georgetown and Alexandria. Although John Quincy Adams turned the first spade, the undertaking was not a success. A change of plan widening the canal made it impossible to finish the work within the constraints of the capital. By the crash of 1837, all of the $8 million had been spent and the canal was still 50 miles from Cumberland. In the meantime, President Jackson had to repeatedly call out the militia to restore order among the quarrelsome and striking workers.
Finally, in 1850, way over budget, the canal reached Cumberland, whose coal mines at least offered a commercial product that could be carried to Washington. The company ran at a profit from 1860-1880, with the exception of 1877 when a great flood on the Potomac wrecked the works. The company got back on its feet, but the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad steadily drained away its business. It lingered until 1924, when another great flood destroyed the works and made reconstruction financially impossible. The Federal government bought the land as a park in the 1930's.
Lot# 1116 (Presale Estimate - $600 to $900) Final Bid - $950
Lewis & Clark Centennial & American Pacific Expo & Oriental Fair (OR) 1904. #1656. One share. Green. Large gold embossed corporate seal with an image of a settler and Indian pointing to a map of the Louisiana Purchase. "Where Rolls The Oregon" ships in harbor. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark on either side. Nicest we have seen. Extremely Rare. VF+.
This exhibition was held in Portland, Oregon, in 1905, to commemorate the anniversary of the famed Lewis and Clark expedition from St. Louis to the Pacific Coast, which charted a route to the West through the Rocky Mountains.
Lot# 1209 (Presale Estimate - $2,000 - $4,000) Final Bid - $2600
Estate of Alexander Hamilton (NY) Nov. 29, 1804. $200. Printed form. Signed as trustees by Gouverneur Morris (1752-1816) patroon,
