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Original handwritten promissory note dated October 9, 1873, at Belfast, Maine, recording a debt of $11.48 payable on demand with interest at six percent.
Written in flowing period ink on ruled paper, the note includes the familiar promise “For value received,” the amount expressed as eleven dollars and forty-eight cents, and a bold Knowlton signature. The reverse bears the handwritten docket “Knowlton note.”
The signer’s name appears to read Martin Knowlton, with compactly written middle initials. A strong local match is Martin V. B. Knowlton (1835–1917). His obituary in the February 1, 1917 Republican Journal describes a ship caulker who worked for many years in Belfast’s shipyards. It also identifies him as a cornet player in the old Belfast band and Sanborn’s orchestra, and as a longtime Freemason. This biographical identification is probable.
The payee’s handwriting is difficult to decipher, so no specific historical identity is claimed for that name.
The October 1873 date places this private credit transaction during the Panic of 1873, offering additional historical context for collectors of nineteenth-century finance and commerce.
Approximately 7¾ × 2½ inches; please refer to the ruler photograph.
CONDITION: Old horizontal and vertical folds, splits extending inward from the edges along the horizontal fold, small edge tears, irregular margins, corner wear, and light age toning and soiling. The writing and signature remain readily visible. Please examine all photographs.
An original piece of Belfast and Waldo County, Maine, financial and family-history ephemera.
PLEASE NOTE: THIS LISTING IS FOR ONE ORIGINAL PAPER ONLY. The collage shows multiple views of the same document. The ruler and display background are not included.
Type: Handwritten Promissory Note
Date: October 9, 1873
Place: Belfast, Maine
County: Waldo
Country of Origin: United States
Signed: Yes
Signed By: Martin Knowlton; middle initials indistinct
Amount: $11.48
Payment Terms: On demand
Interest Rate: Six percent
Material: Ruled paper
Number of Items: One original paper
Approximate Dimensions: 7¾ × 2½ inches
Subject: Maine Local History, Finance, Private Credit, Genealogy
Condition: Used; folds, fold splits, edge wear, and age toning
