Grocer fleeced in raccoon skin scam

From the time of the earliest settlements in Fayette County, money was rarely used. The settlers bartered skins for goods.

James Evans, whose father, Akin, was Fayette County’s sheriff and tax collector in 1836-1839, 1846-1849 and 1852-1854, wrote that if you did not have gold or silver to pay your taxes, you could catch a few raccoons and pay your taxes with their skins. You could not pay with paper money, as it was not legal tender.

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