Charles Henson to Charles W. Chesnutt, 17 May 1922
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MICHEAUX FILM CORPORATION
PRODUCERS AND DISTRIBUTORS OF
HIGH CLASS NEGRO PHOTOPLAYS
3457 S. STATE ST. • VICTORY 7712
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
[illustration]
Due to a mixup in carrying two accounts at our bank, a check which we deposited to take care of the check which we sent you got into the wrong account, and as a consequence your check is on its way back to you.1
In order to correct this error, I am enclosing herewith a cashier's check for $104.25 to take care of the note and interest due on May 15th.2
I will thank you to return our check to us as soon as you receive same along with the note.
Yours very truly, MICHEAUX FILM CORPORATION Charles Henson Auditor CH/BA.Correspondent: No additional information is available about Charles Henson, who wrote to Chesnutt twice in 1922, on behalf of the Micheaux Film Corporation, about mix-ups and delays in sending checks.
1. A May 1922 check for $104.26 was the last payment Chesnutt ever received from Micheaux Film Corporation for the film rights to The House Behind the Cedars. An unlocated letter by the Micheaux Film Corporation from April 19, 1922, acknowledged by Chesnutt on April 28, enclosed two checks, one to be cashed May 15, the other June 15, 1922. But the May 15 check (covering the December 1921 promissory note) bounced. Both checks were then replaced by new cashier's checks with interest by Micheaux auditor Charles Henson on May 17, 1922, but only the first of these (for $104.25) could be cashed. Chesnutt passed on 25% ($26.06) to Houghton Mifflin Company on May 24, 1922, as per the contractual agreement, and requested that Micheaux pay the protest fee for the bounced check in his letter of May 23, 1922, but there is no record that the company did so. Instead, Charles Henson's letter of May 27, 1922, asked for more time to cover the June cashier's check (covering the January 1922 promissory note). Chesnutt's repeated inquiries to the company after this date failed to produce a payment on the last note. [back]
2. Chesnutt came to an arrangement regarding the movie-rights contract for his novel The House Behind the Cedars with Micheaux Film Corporation, which produced a series of five $100.00 promissory ("cognovit") notes, each due on the 15th of the month (September to January). These were paid with delays and incurred additional interest and penalties: The September note on Oct. 1, the October note around Nov. 13, November's on Dec. 4, and December's not until May 1922. The last note was not paid at all. Chesnutt declined several offers of stocks or bonds in the company in trade for the notes, and passed 25% of each payment on to Houghton Mifflin Company. [back]
