The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-11-30
A TREASON-STAINED FAMILY
The South Carolina Trenholms and
Their Relation to the COnfederacy.
How the Father of the New Ciyil-Seryica
Commissioner Sought to Use His Posi-
ton to Feather His Own Nest.

staff Correspondence of the Indianapolis Journal.
WASHINGTON, Nov. 2Z.-If the President was
impel,ed to the selection of William /. Tren-
holm as a member Of the Civil service Commits
sion by the belief that, in appointing the son Of
George A. Trenholm, he was complimenting the
people of South Carolina. or especially pleasing
them, he was vastly mistaken. He may have
thought that the son of a man who was the Sec
rotary of the Treasury in jeff Davis's Cabinet
would bring with him to the service some such
lustre as hangs about the name of Lee, which is
strong enough to MAKE Fitzhugh Lee Governor.
The thought, if it occurred to the President,
would have been natural enough, but it would
not have been founded on a knowledge of the
history of the confederate fnancier.
For years after the close of the var there was
in South Carolina only a feeling of contempt
and, in many instances, of hatred for George A.
Trenholm. There was scarcely a county in the
State which did not contain some impoverished
families whose members had cause for bitter ex-
pressions of feeling when Trenholm's name
came up in conversation. They reflected that
the war that had left them ruined had left him
the richest man in the South.
When the United States forces took posses
sion of Charleston and the direct tax commits
sioners began to make lists of the property, they
found hundreds Of pieces of real estate held in
the name of the firm of which Mr.. Trenholm
was the controlling member. 1t seemed as if
the whole city was theirs. and, indeed, the ag-
gregate Of the buildings would have made a
very rich city. In the rich Sea islands were fine
estates, and on the main land of the coast, be-
C1la N Iua =
rice plantations, while in the upcountry, ex-
tending even into the mountains, were farms.
and stores and houses numbered by the score.
In every little town, and in such cities as Co.
lumbia and Greenville were lots and houses
all in the name of George A. Trenholm, in trust
for John Fraser & Co., or in that of some of the
members of that great firm.
Practically all of their real estate was pur-
chased during the war by the agents of the firm.
Every hotel Of any size in Charleston belonged
to the firm. The Charleston Hotel, the Mills
House and the Pavilion were on the list.
Whole streets Of wholesale stores, like Hazel
street and East Bay, and row on row of houses,
were theirs. Scarcely any wharf property es-
capped them. The list exhibits in the suits sp-
peared like the tax-list of an entire city. 1t GER
tainly included the most desirable property in
Charleston. and must have been selected by a
shrewd eye. The price paid in confederate
money was enormous in many instances, daz-
cling sums probably to the seller, but to the
clear intellect of the financial Secretary of the
Treasury, just so many pieces of paper, more OF
less.
1t was afterward remembered that the firm
was accommodating about trusting those who
Ia -zzJ 49,
buy house or land at the most liberal figures.
Men who had expressed gratitude for such ia
vors were later on disposed to feel a contempt
for their own shortsightedness.
The battle of Shiloh was really dependent
upon the operations of the firm of John Fraser
d Co, of which the new CiviFservice Commits
sioner was a member. Upon one of their block
ade runners was imported a large part of the
artillery which made it possible for Gen. Albert
Sidney Johnston's army to attack Grant at Shi-
loh. But, unfortunately, when it reached the
army so anxiously waiting for it, the discovery
was made that not = round of ammunition had
come with the guns!, IL had all been shipped
upon another vessel which was to run the block
ade in her turn. For days the confederate army
delayed its stroke at Grant, waiting for ammu-
milton for the English guns. AT last the vessel
ran through the Union fleet, and three days be-.
fore the battle she was lying at the dock of John
Fraser d Co, in Charleston. A telegram was
at once sent to General Johnston by Mr.. Treu
holm that The ammunition had come. 1t was
rhplUly put on cars ana hurried to the front.
What 1t accomplished Is a matter of history.
The Treholms, father and son, owned IS per
cent of the entire business and property of the
firm. and beside had private Investments of large
sums of money. John Fraser 81 Co. was the
great Notwithstanding firm of the South. It had
a great depot in Charleston, with branches in Co
lumbia, Augusta, Greenville, Anderson, Camden,
Cherau, etc. 1t had its representatives in Liver
pool, London and Nassau. Its business was to
buy cotton in the Confederacy and ship it out on
blockade runners. which, in turn, brought back
the goods so greatly needed by the people of the
South. The members of the firm, at the close
of the war, were George A. Trenholm, Theodore
d. Wagner, Charles K. Brisleau, j. T.
Welsman and William /. Trenholm, the latter
being the new Civil-service Commissioner. He
was, however, not actively in business during
the war. He was captain of one of Charleston's
crack military companies. whose MEMBERS,
when they first took the field, each carried with
them a body servant and baggage enough for n
company. Mr.. Trenholm was wounded in his
first fght-at Pocataligo, Jan. !, 1862. He was
home for some time, invaded, but was in the
army again, and became major of his regiment.
He was on his way to join Johnston's army when
it surrendered.
In suits which were brought by the United
States against the firm, it was shown that the
profits of the business were and that.
the Confederacy established. the wealth of the
firm would have been probably $l0O, 900, 600.
This is not to be wondered at when they could
buy cotton at ten cents a pound and sell it in Mas
sau for forty cents in gold, buying goods to sell
on their reception in Charleston at prices based
on a hundred for one in confederate money.
The accumulation of enormous amounts in con-
federate money led them to invest in something
that would be tangible should the Confederate
cause fail. And this is the rub with those who
sold their real estate.
It appeared to the people of Charleston, who
had once owned the houses, stores aud wharyes.
that they had been the victims of q cold, cruel.
calculating man. Mr.. Trenholm, as a member
of the confederate cabinet, was commencing
confederate money to their confidence, urging
them to invest in confederate cotton bonds and
loans; or worse, enforcing laws which fixed a
price on their products and forcing the paper
money as legal tender upon the unwilling sellers.
While he was a part and parcel of the government,