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had chartered upwards of 40 banks; the stock of
almost all was taken & they went into operation.
Amongst others was the "Winchester Commercial
Bank" in which I took 50 shares. I literally knew
nothing about banks or banking. Most people believed
at that time that banks were the real "El
Dorado" of the Spaniards, but were soon undeserved.
They all failed. I was paid for my land
& other property sold in Wayne & Columbia, where
I had valuable lots, in the notes of those banks
when they were at a ruinous discount. The
price of lands, in Kenty, came down more than
50 per cent and when in 1825, I came to the
absolute determination to leave the state, I sold
the land, that had cost me $35 and $40 pr. acre
at $18 per acre. I expect it is now worth at least
$50 per acre. My losses were very great.
My sons were continued at Mr. Wilsons school in Jessamine
in 1818, until the commencement of the collegiate
year of the "Transylvania University" then
under the Presidency of the learned, eloquent and
accomplished Horace Holley, at which time I placed
them both there as students in that institution.
Thomas entered the Sophmore class & Algernon
the Freshman. Thomas graduated in 1821, not only with
credit but with considerable reputation as a
scholar & as an orator. The class that graduated
that year consisted of Mr. John W. Tibbat, the
son of a baker in Lexington, reserved by the vote
of the faculty the first honor, Thomas the 5th
tho' Mr. Holley was in favor of awarding him the
first. I doubt if that celebrated institution has
ever turned out, at any one session, an equal
number of talented youths. Mr. Tibbat has been