Is this note worth $22.7 million dollars today?

Thomas Pugh Kennedy made a small $299.58 loan to the city of Tampa during the early months of the Civil War. The city was preparing to fight for Southern independence, and needed supplies. However, according to Kennedy’s great-granddaughter, Tampa never actually paid Thomas back. Now Joan Kennedy Biddle is suing the city of Tampa for that $299.58 loan made almost 150 years ago. Plus interest, at 8 percent, reaching a total of $22.7 million dollars… yeah, right.

The promissory note was considered a family heirloom in the Biddle family. Biddle, who is 77, stated that “the thing has been in the family since the date on the note, and it has never been repaid.” She knew about the note for decades before deciding to sue for repayment, stating that “it’s strange that the thing has never been collected.” It’s not really strange at all though!

What are Biddle’s chances of winning the case? Well, fairly slim, for several reasons:

Florida seceded from the Union in January of 1861. The promissory note was issued by the new Confederate government on June 21st, 1861. If you think the United States government is responsible for the debt of the quickly defunct Confederate government, you would be mistaken. Straight from the 14th Amendment to the Constitution: “But neither the United States nor any state shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.” The loan was definitely to aid the insurrection of the Confederacy.

Also, apparently the Tampa that existed in 1861 did not exist 10 years later:

Rodney Kite-Powell, curator at the Tampa Bay History Center, noted that the Tampa of 1861 is not the same city that exists today — literally.

Tampa was originally incorporated in 1855, but was abolished in 1869 in part because residents had no money to pay taxes, and the city had no money to pay its bills, Kite-Powell said. It was reincorporated in 1887.

At the time the note was issued, Tampa was a tiny town with about 800 residents, city limits that included just a portion of downtown. It also was home to Fort Brooke, where local Confederate soldiers were stationed.

Lastly, the city might use the “doctrine of laches,” which “prevents claims from being made after an extraordinary passage of time.” Even if technically the statute of limitations does not apply to such a document, Biddle’s case is definitely on shaky ground.

She should sell it to a historical society if she is strapped for money, that would probably be more fiscally intelligent than a frivolous lawsuit right?

[Source]

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