Arago: Personal Identification Tokens

Owney received this token from Henry Merkle, who owned a restaurant and saloon near the Chillicothe, Ohio railroad. Owney may have traveled to Chillicothe aboard the Scioto Valley, Dayton & Ironton, or the Cincinnati, Washington & Baltimore Railroad. One of Henry Merkle’s sons, Glenmore Merkle, served as a bartender at the family saloon and later operated a liquor store and offered trade check tokens for five cents off goods.