Ohio Turnpike Domestic Loan 1843 - signed by Civil War Governor John Brough

Beautifully engraved certificate from the Ohio Turnpike Domestic Loan issued in 1843. This historic document has an ornate border around it with a vignettes of a farm, canal and a train. This item is hand signed by John Brough as Commissioner of the Ohio Canal Fund, and E. King as Secretary. This historic item is over 158 years old.

John Brough - b1811- d1865, Civil War governor of Ohio (1864-65), b. Marietta, Ohio. In 1844, after publishing newspapers in Marietta and Lancaster, he became owner and editor of the Cincinnati Enquirer, which he made one of the leading Democratic organs in the West. Brough served in the state legislature, and as state auditor (1839-45) he thoroughly reorganized Ohio's financial system. Although a Democrat, Brough so vigorously supported the Union during the Civil War that the Republicans nominated him for governor in 1863, and he soundly defeated the Copperhead leader, Clement L. Vallandigham. He was one of the most effective state leaders of the period.

Ohio's 1000-mile network of navigable canals, constructed between 1825 and 1847, provided a system of economical transportation where none had previously existed. The young state with its isolated frontier economy was transformed almost overnight. The canals opened many markets for its agriculture and industrial products, and attracted thousands of immigrants to the state.