1837-1838 Promissory Note by Jacob Post, Jr. (probably) to Elsie Schenck Voorhees Peterson

The Note

Promissory Note believed to have been made by Jacob Post, Sr. to Elsie Peterson payable 20 April 1838

The Promissory Note transcription follows:  "$128:. For value recived I promis to pay Else Peterson on hunderd an twenty ate dolars on Demand with use Aprel the 20 Fleming 1838"

Provenance of the Note

The Promissory Note appears among several loose papers in the Ledger of Jacob Post, Sr. handed down in the family for five subsequent generations. No signature appears on the note. One method of cancelling a legal document in the 19th Century was by tearing or cutting off the signature. That appears to be the case with this Note because the blank lower part of the actual document (not all shown above) does have a rectangular area below "Fleming 1838" removed (slightly visible at the lower margin of the image).

Absence of a signature makes the originator of the Note somewhat speculative, but it was likely either Jacob Post, Sr. or his son Jacob, Jr. Given the $128 sum involved and reference to "use," the Note may have been for the use of a farm. Jacob Post, Sr. already had a farm of 127 acres in 1838, which turned out to be the year of his death, suggesting that Jacob Post, Jr. was more likely to need land to farm and may have been the person making the Note. Comparison of handwriting between the Note and Jacob, Sr.'s Ledger is not very revealing, but spelling in the Note does not seem as good as that exhibited by Jacob, Sr. My tentative assignment of the Note's authorship is to Jacob Post, Jr.

Jacob Post, Jr. was born on his father's farm on or near present-day Stone School Road in the Town of Fleming on 20 January 1809, son of Jacob, Sr. and Jannetie (Jane) Nevius. He married Esther Ann Gregory, it is believed in 1829, and they had a daughter, Clarisa A. Post. Esther Ann died in 1833 and Clarisa A. in 1837. Jacob Post, Jr. would have been a widower, possibly in his father's household, at the time the Note was executed. He would later marry Betsey Ann Allen, a granddaughter of pioneer settler Gideon Allen of Scipioville in the Town of Scipio, Cayuga Co., New York.

Elsie Peterson

Christopher Peterson, son of Cornelius Peterson, Jr. and Maria Post, married Elsie Schenck Voorhees on 26 March 1823. They resided on the western shores of Owasco Lake in the Town of Fleming, Cayuga Co., New York. Elsie was the daughter of Abraham Voorhees and Elsie TenEyck. She was born 4 September 1801. Unfortunately, Christopher died only 10 years later, on 23 February 1833, leaving Elsie with five children to raise.

Elsie's oldest son, Cornelius A. Peterson, would have been only 13 years old in 1837 when the Note probably was drawn up, perhaps for a use of 1 year terminating 20 April 1838. Cornelius A., however capable for his age, likely would not have been able to commence farming at that time. We can speculate that Elsie might have rented all or part of her farm for income.