Signed by prominent Pennsylvania merchant, coal operator & land speculator

6 3/4 x 2 3/4, imprinted document, filled out in ink. Drawn on The Pittston Bank, Pittston, Pa., March 19th, 1863. Pay $10.70 Dollars to J.P. Schooley. Signed at lower right by J.B. Schooley. Minor age toning and wear. Cut cancelled. Very fine Civil War dated check from coal mining country in Pennsylvania about 3 1/2 months before the epic battle of Gettysburg.

WBTS Trivia: Jesse B Schooley, (1811-85). He grew up on a large farm in Wyoming, Pennsylvania, and was a land speculator, merchant, and coal operator in the Wyoming Valley. He had many holdings and agreements in Pittston, Jenkins Township, West Pittson, Exeter, Wyoming, Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, and many other areas in the state.

Interesting facts about Pittston, Pa.: Pittston is in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, situated between Scranton and Wilkes-Barre. The city gained prominence in the mid 1800's and early 1900's as an active anthracite coal mining town.

Located in the Wyoming Valley on the east side of the Susquehanna River, and the south side of the Lackawanna River, it was named after the famous British statesman William Pitt, and was settled around 1770.

During the Revolutionary War, the Wyoming Valley was an active battleground between the British and the Continental Army. On July 3, 1778, a force of British soldiers, with the assistance of about 700 Indians, attacked and killed nearly 300 American Patriots. Connecticut Continentals, led by Captain Jeremiah Blanchard and Lieutenant Timothy Keyes, held and maintained a fort in Pittstown. On July 4, 1778, one day after the Battle of Wyoming, a group of British soldiers took over the fortress and some of it was destroyed. Two years later, the Continentals stormed the fortification and recaptured it. From then on it was under Patriot control until the end of the war in 1783.