The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1892-01-21
INDIGNANT REBELS.
How Facsimile Confederate Notes Came 10
Printed and Circulated.

frlnted ana Nirculateu.
EDITOR NATIONAL TRIBUNE: Your letter
asking when first commenced printing fac
smile rebel notes, the number / printed, IL
/ was the only person who printed those fac
SMILES, and IL any Of the designs were original
with me, is received; and in reply ! have to
state that / commenced printing fac-simile
rebel notes in the early part Of March, lS62.
By reference to my memorandum book, per-
ceive that / printed from the 18th Of March,
1862, to the LIST Of August, 1868, 1,56i,O5O fac
SMILES of rebel notes Of denominations rang
ing from five cents TO 500, and presume the
aggregate issue in dollars and cents would
amount 70 the round number Of Sl5.0OOOOO.
In the year 1868 two individuals in New
York (Haney and Hilton, the former since de-
ceased, copied several Of my fac smile notes.
and have been told sold large quantities to
bogus Jew cotton brokers and other scalawags,
who passed through tie Confederate lines aud
purchased cotton from the rebel planters. None
Of the designs of the notes were original with
me. My fac-similes were all engraved from
original notes, for some Of which / paid three
times their face value in gold.
Perhaps il may interest you to know how
came to publish fac smile rebel notes. In 1862
j occupied the premises No. 400 Chestnut street,
where / sold patent medicines, peTfumery,
stationery, and newspapers, foreign and domes-
tic.
In the early part Of March Of that year there
was a great demand for a certain issue Of the
Philadelphia Daily Inquirer, published by VIM.
ii. Harding, esq. The demand for the paper
was so great, even after the edition had been
exhausted, that / had the curiosity 10 ask a
customer what that particular issue Of the In
qHirer contained that caused so great demand
for IL. lie informed me that it contained a
facsimile of q s. Confederate note, the first
that had been seen this side Of the rebel lines.
Immediately called on Dir. Harding, pur-
| chased an electrotype plate of the s. note, and
had 5000 copies printed on French letter paper.
They sold like "hot cakes" at one cent each,
and / supplied the trade at so cents per hun
dred notes. On the margin Of each and every
note was printed Facsimile Con tolerate notes
sold, wholesale and retail, by 5. q. Upham, 4Oa
Chestnut street, Philadelphia"
This s. note was Of the date Of Sept 9 1861.
The next, fac-simile, was the $40 note, Of the
date Of July %, 1861. This note was first en-
graved by Frank Leslie, Of New York, and
printed In his illustrated newspaper in March,
| 1861. / purchased an eleetrotype plate Of the
$40 note from Mr.. Leslie, and struck of impress
siOns on French letter paper, which sold at the
same price as the s. note. ! made no distinc-
/ tion In price in consequence Of the high denOm-
| ination of the note. sold 800 fac-simile
note at the same price i charged for fye-cent
shinplaster. / sold the notes as curiosities-
| mementOes Of the rebelliOn-and advertised
them as such in several Of the most widely
circulated papers in the Union. inclOse one
Of my circulars to the trade, with several
notices of the press. ! printed in all % differ
ent varieties of facsimile rebel notes and shin
/ plasters and ID different postage stamps.
During the publication of those fac-simile
notes / was the "best abused man (by the
rebels) in the Union. Senator Foote, in hi
! speech before the rebel Congress, at Richmond
in 1862, said had done more to injure tht
Confederate cause than Gen. Mcclellan and
his army. Since the close Of the war have
learned that President JEFF Davis, during tht
rebellion, offered a reward Of $4,000 for my
corpus dead or alive."-SAM'L @. UPHAM, 2.
South Eighth street, Philadelphia, Pa.