The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-10-19
z and 9 E. Washington Street.

The length of these strings varied. but in
of about siS fee, was found ~ be the nsnaii
quantity computed by the Indians. and
hence a fathom became the Dutch unit of
trade. In the South the unit length was a.
string as long as the distance from the ell
bow to the tip of the little finger-a cubit.
VALUE OF II SHELLS.
The Indians We're particular as to the
quality and size of the beads, for upon the
elegance of their finish-to speak scientif-
cally, the amount of personal labor they
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS their value; and they
were careful to examine each string, and
if it were imperfect, or the beads worn and
irregular, they would not accept 1t. They
measured the quantity by their thumbs,
counting six beads to the length from the
end of the nail to the first joint. Wooley's
History of New York. written in 1913,
says that then wampum was valued above
the Spanish or English silver"
Now came some '.financiering.' Seeing
that profit and wealth lay in possession of
Wampum, the burgherS along the Hudson
river, as the easiest way of getting: rich.
began TO make it, there being no law
their tools of steel and knowledge of lathes
this could be done very rapidly, and there
was no lack of clam shells; but with the
absence of the painstaking care bestowed
upon the native, handmade beads, came
a poor quality of wampum which the In
dams would not accept at the same price
as before. To widen their market the
Dutch carried the custom to New England,
where it seems that the Pilgrims had not
made much use of wampum. The Massa-
chusetts rulers tried TO prohibit T.. but
could buy goods from white men. they
began to make it more industriously, and
the amount increased so rapidly that the
usual OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES.
But meanwhile trade fourished, the wam-
enm sdf sea eW%erv;wh as ehe ex Dg1eh a cai Iedn IT.
does with US. William kieft was then Gov.
ernor of New Netherlands, and In the
X 4 iGfnr Uin Uiyae a hlt-
morous account of the financial troubles
that ensued. To check the evil effects OF
council pass a law, dated April IS, 1641,
whose preamble illustrates in a singular
money always supplants a dearer. This
law read thus:
AGAINST INITIATION.
Whereas very bad Wampum Is at pres
ent circulating here and yme is made
in nothing but rough, unpublished stun
which is brought hither from other places,
where it is so per cent. cheaper than 1t Is
paid out here, and the good, polished wam-
pun. commonly called Manhattan wam-
pun, is wholly put out of sight or ex-
ported, which tends to the express ruin
and destruction of this Country. In order
to provide in time therefor, We do, there
fore, for the public good, interdict and
forbid all persons > > . to receive in
payment, or to pay out, any unpublished
Wampum during the next month of May,
except at Five for one Silver, and that
strung, and then after that Six beads for
one Silver; Whosoever shall be found to
have acted contrary hereunto, shall pro-
visionally forfeit the Wampum which Is
paid out and ten %guilders for the Poor.
and both payer and payee are alike liable.
The weil-polished Wampum shall remain
at its price as before, towit, -Four for one
Silver, provided 1T be strung"
In Massachusetts (act of 164S) WAN
pulnage" was legal tender for all debts up
to forty shillings, except county rates to
the treasurer" the white at eight for q
penny and the black at four for a penny.
In 1856 the Pequot Indians paid as trib-
ute to the united colonies 215 fathoms OF
wampum. AT this time the white was
worth five shillings sterling per fathom of
$3.50 beads, and the black ten shillings. 1t
was legal tender in New England until 1861.
| and in New York until somewhat later. but
It remained useful for a long period after
ward. :
nearly a century passed, and still the
shell money held "a firm place in colonial
trade all along the coast, though 1t had
deprecated to about one-fourth it's former
value. Baron Kahn, who wrote a most OBJ
servant book about America In 1845, has
much to say of it. He tells us that the In
dams of the ~backwoods knew or cared
wampum: and that there were factories Of
it, especially at Albany. The Rev. Mr..
Burnaby saw it made on Staten island, and
in 1856 Jacob Spicer, of Cape May, then one
of the leading merchants of New Jersey.
collected all he could of 1t, and found his
stock worth more than it's weight in silver
coin. A factory for making wampum for
Ridge, N. J., until about 1875.
.