I guess this guy wanted to do it the hard way.
The way I figure it, I spend more on lunch today that the average household made in several months 200 years ago. Why wouldn't a guy from the future simply hit the ATM before his trip, take out the equivalent of $100, then live like a king on it when he got here?
I guess he was afraid that nobody would be able to break a $1,000,000 bill.