1837 Stampless Letter New York to Mobile Alabama – Antebellum Merchant Finance For Sale

1837 Stampless Letter New York to Mobile Alabama – Isaac Mip & Sons Merchants

Original antebellum-era stampless folded business letter, dated January 20, 1837, sent from New York City to Mobile, Alabama, a major Gulf Coast port and one of the most important centers of Southern commerce during the cotton boom years.

The letter is addressed to Mr. William Jones Jr. of Mobile, Alabama and concerns the receipt of a draft and the settlement of accounts. It records a draft for $1,057.23, credited to Mr. Griffin, and notes that this amount represents the balance of the firm’s account at that time. The letter is signed by the New York mercantile firm Isaac Mip & Sons.

This document is a strong and representative example of pre-Civil War American commercial correspondence, illustrating how merchants conducted interstate trade through drafts, credit, and written confirmation decades before modern banking systems.

New York 20th January 1837

Mr William Jones Junr
Mobile

In yours of the 5th inst is rec’d
with draft annexed for ten hundred fifty seven
23/100 Dollars which we have placed to the credit
of Mr Griffin which is the balance of our account
to this time &c

Respectfully Your Obedts

Isaac Mip & Sons

• Genuine pre-1847 stampless folded letter

• Red circular New York postmark dated January 22

• Addressed to Mobile, Alabama

• Original wafer seal remnant on reverse

• Period iron gall ink on laid paper

• Later manuscript docketing on reverse

• Typical folds, edge wear, and age toning consistent with an 1830s commercial document

• No repairs, no modern alterations

During the 1830s, Mobile, Alabama was a key export hub for cotton, while New York City functioned as the financial center underwriting Southern trade. Letters such as this were essential tools of commerce, documenting drafts, credit balances, and account settlements between merchants operating hundreds of miles apart.

Ships well protected, folded as originally mailed.
Combined shipping available.