Things That Are Almost Checks

That is a great piece of family history to have. Very nice addition to the thread Kefiroth

I came across something unusual today on ebay. This is not part of my collection, but I'm sharing it here because I'd never seen one before. This is a "Time Check" and it appears to be essentially a paycheck, with lodging deducted. Can anyone add more information?

Nice collection, thanks!

some great collection. Thanks for sharing!

So here's an "almost" check circa 1830s. This is a Bill of Exchange. You'll see it states "Third of Exchange (first and second unpaid)". During the time when postal delivery was slow and unreliable (not unlike today) banks would mail their checks under three, sometimes four, separate covers. The first one to arrive was cashed, the others were discarded. So in this case, if this Third check had arrived first, the other two would go unpaid.

And fyi, that riverboat is stacked high with cotton bales.