George Trenholm

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George Trenholm
Confederate States Secretary of the Treasury
In office
July 18, 1864 – April 27, 1865
President Jefferson Davis
Preceded by Christopher Memminger
Succeeded by John Reagan (Acting)
Personal details
Born (1807-02-25)February 25, 1807
Charleston, South Carolina, U.S.
Died December 9, 1876(1876-12-09) (aged 69)
Charleston, South Carolina, U.S.
Political party Democratic

George Alfred Trenholm (February 25, 1807 – December 9, 1876) was a prominent politician in the Confederate States of America and served as the Secretary of the Treasury during the final year of the American Civil War.

Biography

George Alfred Trenholm was born in Charleston, South Carolina. When his father, William Trenholm, died, George left school early. He went to work for a major cotton broker, John Fraser and Company in Charleston. By 1853 he was head of the company, and by 1860 was one of the wealthiest men in the United States. He had interests in steamships, hotels, cotton, plantations, and slaves; he was also director of the Bank of Charleston and of a South Carolina railroad. When the Civil War broke out, John Fraser and Company became the Confederate government's overseas banker and financed its own fleet of blockade runners.[1] Christopher Memminger used Trenholm as an unofficial adviser throughout his own term as Secretary of the Treasury; Trenholm was appointed to that post on July 18, 1864. He was a more charismatic figure than his predecessor and this helped him with the press and with Congress.[2]

Trenholm fled Richmond with the rest of the government in April 1865 and went south as far as Fort Mill, South Carolina. Due to illness he asked President Davis to accept his resignation, which Davis accepted with his thanks on April 27, 1865.[3] He was later briefly imprisoned at Fort Pulaski near Savannah, Georgia.[4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Patrick 1944, pp. 236–237.
  2. ↑ Patrick 1944, pp. 237–238.
  3. ↑ Patrick 1944, p. 242.
  4. ↑ Allen, Felicity (1999). Jefferson Davis, Unconquerable Heart (illustrated ed.). University of Missouri. p. 6. ISBN 0-8262-1219-0. Retrieved 2009-03-03 

Bibliography

  • Bulloch, James D. (2001). The Secret Service of the Confederate States in Europe. New York: Random House International. ISBN 0-679-64022-3. 
  • Nepveux, Ethel Trenholm Seabrook (1973). George Alfred Trenholm and the Company That Went to War. Anderson, South Carolina: The Author. ISBN 0-9668843-1-0. 
  • Nepveux, Ethel Trenholm Seabrook (1999). George A. Trenholm, Financial Genius of the Confederacy. Anderson, South Carolina: The Author. ISBN 0-9668843-1-0. 
  • Patrick, Rembert W. (1944). Jefferson Davis and His Cabinet. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press. pp. 234–243. 
  • Spence, E. Lee (1995). Treasures of the Confederate Coast: The "Real Rhett Butler" & Other Revelations. Miami: Narwhal Press. ISBN 1-886391-01-7. 
  • Spencer, Warren F. (1983). The Confederate Navy In Europe. University, Alabama: University of Alabama Press. ISBN 0-8173-0861-X. 
Political offices
Preceded by
Christopher Memminger		 Confederate States Secretary of the Treasury
1864–1865 		Succeeded by
John Reagan
Acting
Authority control
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