On eBay Now...1822 Middleton NH $50 Promissory Note Jonathan York to Thomas Caverly Strafford For Sale
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1822 Middleton NH $50 Promissory Note Jonathan York to Thomas Caverly Strafford:
$189.00
Dated February 2, 1822, the note is written in a clear early-19th-century hand and promises repayment of fifty dollars in twelve months with interest. The reverse retains period docketing identifying it as “Jonathan York’s note $50.”
This is a strong piece of early New Hampshire financial and local history, documenting the kind of private credit arrangement that was common in small rural communities before modern banking became widely accessible.
Full Transcription:
$50.00
Middleton Feb. 2nd 1822
For value received I promise to pay to
Thomas Caverly or his order fifty dollars
in twelve months from this date with
Interest
Jonathan York
Reverse docket:
Jonathan
York’s note
$50
Additional faded period notations appear on the reverse.
Historical Context
Middleton was a small farming community in Strafford County, New Hampshire. The 1820 federal census recorded a population of only 482, making this a surviving financial record from a relatively small and closely connected rural population.
In communities such as Middleton, New Durham, and Barrington, residents often relied on private loans, merchant credit, and handwritten promissory notes rather than formal bank financing. A document like this could represent cash advanced for agricultural needs, property expenses, livestock, merchandise, or another local obligation.
The phrase “or his order” made the note transferable, meaning Thomas Caverly could potentially endorse the debt to another party. The stated twelve-month term placed its maturity at approximately February 2, 1823.
Jonathan YorkJonathan York was the borrower and maker of the note.
The York family was established in Middleton by the late 18th century. One prominent local family member was John York, born about 1746 and deceased January 2, 1837, who lived in Middleton and is recorded as having served during the American Revolution. He appears in early federal census records for the town.
Another member of the Middleton York family was Rev. John York, born in Middleton on March 4, 1783, who later became a Free Will Baptist minister in Maine.
A Jonathan York, born about 1777 in New Hampshire and died August 26, 1851 in Wallingford, Vermont, appears in compiled genealogical records and has sometimes been associated with the broader Middleton York family. He is a plausible candidate for the signer of this document.
However, surviving records do not conclusively establish that this Jonathan York was living in Middleton in 1822 or that he was the son of Revolutionary War veteran John York. For that reason, the exact genealogical identification of the signer should be considered probable or possible rather than certain.
Whoever the signer was, this document establishes that a Jonathan York was conducting a significant private financial transaction in Middleton in February 1822.
Thomas CaverlyThomas Caverly was the lender or payee named in the note.
The Caverly family was one of the older established families of Strafford County, with important branches in Barrington, New Durham, Middleton, and the surrounding region.
Two men named Thomas Caverly are particularly plausible candidates:
Deacon Thomas Caverly of New Durham died March 5, 1825 and is buried in the Caverly Cemetery there. As an established adult resident of a town directly neighboring Middleton, he is chronologically and geographically a strong candidate for the payee.
Another Thomas Caverly, born in 1737 and died in 1832, was associated with Barrington and appears in early census records. He has also been described in genealogical sources as having Quaker associations.
The 19th-century Genealogy of the Caverly Family documents the extensive presence of the family in Strafford County and records numerous members as landowners and local civic figures.
As with Jonathan York, the exact Thomas Caverly represented by this note cannot presently be proven from the document alone. What the manuscript does establish is that a Thomas Caverly was sufficiently connected to Jonathan York to extend him a $50 interest-bearing private loan.
Condition:
Original manuscript on period laid/wove paper with expected age toning, folds, scattered spotting and handling wear. Some faded contemporary writing is visible on the reverse. The principal writing and Jonathan York signature remain dark and highly legible. Please examine photographs carefully for exact condition.
An appealing 204-year-old New Hampshire financial manuscript with strong Strafford County genealogical interest involving the York and Caverly families.
Date: February 2, 1822
Place: Middleton, Strafford County, New Hampshire
Amount: $50
Maker/Borrower: Jonathan York
Payee/Lender: Thomas Caverly
Term: 12 months with interest
Format: Original handwritten promissory note with reverse docketing