Porter County Resident Credit Ratings, 1916Credit ratings of Porter County (and adjacent county) residents . . . .
In
1916, P. M. Tuttle published a book titled Merchants Rating and Credit
Association Local Credit Reports. This book provided the credit ratings of
11,364 individuals residing in Porter County and Lake County. The book also published
the credit ratings of some residents of adjacent counties conducting business in
these two counties. No national credit rating service bureaus existed as this
time, so area merchants would often form associations to inform one another of their
patrons' credit worthiness. In a few instances, the merchants would publish
credit reports to be used exclusively by association members. This book was
published by the
members of the Merchant Credit Association of Lake and Porter
Counties, Indiana. Corrections and comments related to these credit ratings
should be directed to the
Porter County GenWeb Coordinator.
Credit ratings can be accessed using the following surname pointer index:
Surname begins with:
| A | G | M | S | Y |
| B | H | N | T | Z |
| C | I | O | U | |
| D | J | P | V | |
| E | K | Q | W | |
| F | L | R | X |
Note that individuals may be listed more than once
in this database. Also be certain to search for
alternative spellings of the surname of interest when you search the database.
Interpreting Credit Ratings
Credit ratings published in this book were submitted by members of the Merchant
Credit Association. Many individuals listed in the database have a single rating;
other individuals in the database
have several ratings published, indicating that numerous members of the
association submitted a credit rating for these individuals. Below is a key to the credit rating system used
in the book:
Key to Credit Ratings
Good (Prompt Pay) . . .
. . . .
. G
Fair (Honest But Slow) . .
. . . .
. F
Speculative (Pays if Pressed) . .
. . . S
Poor Risk (Has Nothing) . . .
. . . .
P
No Credit (Irresponsible) . .
. . . .
N
Here are two examples of the use of the rating system: An individual with a
credit rating of 3-G received "Good" ratings from three member merchants of the
Credit Association. An individual with a credit rating of F.N. received ratings
of "Fair" and "No Credit" from two member merchants of the Credit Association.
Source Citation:
Tuttle, P.M. 1916. Merchants Rating and Credit Association of Lake and Porter
Counties, Indiana. Publication location unknown. 296 p.