The John Christian Blum House (1815), at Old Salem, photographed by me and someone back in the day.
John Christian Blum tried his hand at being a gunsmith and a tavern keeper. Ultimately neither worked out well. He became in due course principal agent of the Cape Fear Bank in Salem. The northern portion of the home served as the bank and was accessed via the right door on the front of the building. There is a man standing in that entrance in the antique image. His banking career ended tragically. While he was away from home a fire broke out and destroyed $10,000 - c.$200,000 in the current economy. He never recovered financially. Not surprisingly the bank wanted its money. It is recorded that he was “sorely afflicted and deeply depressed.”
The Moravian church apparently paid the Cape Fear Bank its due. In exchange Brother Blum was required to give the church all future profits and all his property for the rest of his life. He then went on to be the first printer in Salem in the space that once was occupied by the bank. His sons bought back the home from the church after his death.
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