RANDOLPH, NEBRASKA.

BANK CHECK SIGNED BY:

REV. JOSEPH AVERY BENT,

SEPTEMBER 28, 1897.

TYPE OF SCRIPOPHILY, EXONUMIA, NOTAPHILY:  Bank check.

NAME OF THE PAYOR / DRAWER:  Rev. Joseph A. Bent.
CITY, COUNTY & STATE:  Randolph (Cedar) Nebraska. The City of Randolph was founded in late 1886.
NAME OF BANK:  Security State Bank.
CHECK PRINTED BY:  N/A.
DATE ON CHECK & YEARS OLD:  September 28, 1897.  125-years old.
NAME OF THE PAYEE:   Appears to be Rev. T. Morning.  The June 2, 1915 edition of the Herald and Presbyter (Cincinnati, Ohio) mentions that a Rev. T. Morning, D.D., of Independence (Iowa), would be involved in the Synod's Committee on Religious Education of the Presbyterian Churches of Iowa in continuing its Dubuque Training School at the Dubuque German College and Seminary program.  
CITY, COUNTY & STATE:  Independence (Buchanan) Iowa.
AMOUNT OF DRAFT / CHECK:  $2.00.
TYPE OF DOCUMENT:  Bank check.
GENERAL COLOR(S):  Off-white with black ink.
MEASUREMENTS:  2¼” x 5⅜”.  Early checks in the United States were much smaller than the checks you would find in a personal check book.
EMBOSSING:  None.
TAXATION / REVENUE / OTHER STAMPS:  Cancellation / Paid stamp by the Security State Bank.
FOLDS: Appears to be no vertical (up and down) and no horizontal (left to right).  There is a corner crease / fold at the lower right corner.
CORNERS:  Acceptable.
HOLES, TEARS, DAMAGE:  The check has been hole canceled / punched (a device was used that would punch a rip or hole through the center of the check) to prevent it from being presented for payment more than once.  Slight browning from age. Rubber stamp canceled on the front by the Security State Bank on September 28, 1897.
ADDITIONAL NOTES:  Endorsed on the reverse by a dip pen.

ABOUT JOSEPH A. BENT:  Born at Middleboro, Vermont, on April 23, 1823, Joseph A. Bent graduated from the State University (at Middlebury College in 1845) and prepared for the ministry at Andover and Union Seminaries (later becoming a congregational minister).  Several years later, Reverend Bent organized a colony and led them to southern Illinois, where they established Hoyleton in 1858.  Congregationalist ministers J. A. Bent and Ovid Miner established a seminary at Hoyleton, where he preached and conducted educational work until 1886.  In 1895, the seminary was donated and the church and a newly-established Orphan’s Home Association launched the Hoyleton Orphan’s Home.  For a period of time, Bent lived in Wheaton, Illinois; however, due to failing health, he moved west to pursue land and horticultural pursuits.  Over the next 15-years, Bent served as a land agent selling land in Iowa, Minnesota, Kansas, Nebraska, and the Dakotas.  He resided in Sioux City, Iowa; Houston, Texas; and eventually, San Marcos, California.  Rev. Joseph A. Bent died at his home in San Marcos, California, in 1906.  

A review of a Court of Civil Appeals of Texas, San Antonio record (Lane et al. v. Miller & Vidor Lumber Co, [No. 5469], April 21, 1915) indicates that at the time of Mr. Bent's death, in his Will, he named his eldest child Mrs. Mary C. Lane administrator and executor of his unsold and undonated real estate located in Nebraska, Alabama, Texas, Missouri, Kansas, and California...

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