Francis C. Plough COLLECTION
(Mss 325)
Inventory
Earl K. Long Library
University of New Orleans
August 2006
Summary
Size: 0.1 l.f. (2 items)
Geographic
locations: Louisiana; New Orleans, La.
Inclusive
dates: 1880, 1881
Summary: Five-dollar bond (#24188), State of Louisiana, ca. 1880; letter from Joseph Kohn, New Orleans, to D. B. Gorham, February 16, 1881, regarding a lawsuit over taxes.
Related
collections:
Source: Gift, December 1984
Access: No restrictions
Copyright: Physical rights are retained by the Earl K. Long Library, University of New Orleans.
Citation: Francis C. Plough Collection, Earl K. Long Library, University of New Orleans
Historical / Biographical Note
These small five-dollar bonds were issued by the State of Louisiana in about 1880 in a desperate bid to raise money for education. They are known as “Baby Bonds” because they feature a small child in a fancy bonnet on the front. Interest was for 7½ cents a year. The five dollars was redeemable in 1886. Five of the original eleven coupons remain. The reverse side is printed entirely in green and resembles a banknote.
The letter, which is apparently unrelated to the Baby Bond, was written by Joseph Kohn (November 14, 1845 - January 29, 1921), a native of Germany who came to the United States in 1859 and established his home in New Orleans in 1868. The fortune he made in the wholesale hat, cap, and trunk business made possible his philanthropic interests, which included the Jewish Orphans’ Home, the Young Men’s and Young Women’s Hebrew Associations, and Touro Infirmary. Kohn’s civic endeavors included lengthy service on the Board of Trade, the Board of Health’s Quarantine Committee, the board of Delgado Trade School, and the Finance Committee of the New Orleans School Board, as well as on numerous committees and boards of the Jewish Orphans’ Home. A New Orleans high school was named in his honor.
Sources: Robert Meyer, Jr., Names Over New Orleans Public Schools (New Orleans: Namesake Press, 1975), p. 117-118; Coincraft.
Container List
325-1 Five-dollar bond (#24188), State of Louisiana, ca. 1880. Commonly known as a “Baby Bond” because of the image of a small child in a fancy bonnet at the lower right corner. Coupons 7 through 11 still attached.
325-2 ALS from Joseph Kohn, New Orleans, La., to D. B. Gorham, H[arrison]burg, La., February 16, 1881, regarding a lawsuit over taxes.
Index Terms
Currency
Gorham, D. B.
Kohn, Joseph
Treasury notes