The Wisconsin Marine and Fire Insurance Co. 173 
1840, March... $4,819 
1840, September. ...... 
1842, January. 34,028 
1843, April . 52,000 
1843, December.... . ....... ... 100,000 
1845, November............ . 250,000 
1847, July..... 300,000 
1848, November... 600,000 
1849, October... 1,000,000 
1851, December... 1,470,225 22 
These notes were redeemable at Chicago, Galena, St. Louis 
and Cincinnati. 
Several times during the decade runs were made upon the 
bank with the avowed intention to break it if possible. The 
greatest run was inaugurated the day after Thanksgiving, 1849. 
For several weeks before, the Chicago and Detroit bankers had 
collected “Mitchell notes.” A report was then circulated that 
George Smith, president of the “Mitchell Bank” had suspended 
specie payments in his branch house at Chicago. The great 
quantity of notes was dispatched post-haste by agents and was 
presented in a lump for redemption the day after Thanksgiving. 
Depositors from all over the city and neighboring country 
hastened to withdraw their deposits. As soon as the news 
reached Mr. Mitchell, he sent a courier to Chicago to re¬ 
quest that $100,000 in specie be sent by land and water. 
Meanwhile, however, he kept his tellers and cashiers busy 
redeeming the notes not only till banking hours were over 
but even till bed time. So great was the confidence reposed 
in Mr. Mitchell’s integrity, by the prominent citizens of Mil¬ 
waukee, that they not only scraped together all the cash they 
could find; but in many instances returned to the bank the with¬ 
drawn deposits of specie placed in their hands by their fearful 
friends for safe-keeping. The supply of coin seemed inexhaus¬ 
tible ; every note was redeemed and the run was successfully met 
even before the $100,000 in specie arrived from Chicago. The 
confidence reposed in the institution had been almost perfect 
and it was only increased by these numerous runs, and it was 
a noticeable fact that expansion was always greater after than 
before these sudden disturbances. The statement is made that 
22 Horace White, An Elastic Currency , p. 52. 
