The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-11-14
DISAPPEARANCE
OF FAMOUS SEAL
Proof That the Confederate Seal
Was Acquired by T. O.
Selfridge

now employed at the United States
Senate, disposed of the seal OF the
Confederate States at Mr.. Davis COM
mand, cannot be true. 1t is an hallu-
cination of Jones. There is at pres
ent q sufficiency of available evidence
to show that Admiral Thomas Q. Self
ridge. of the United States Navy, re-
tired, acquired the seal in 1873 from
Colonel John T. Pickett, the first Con-
federate Commissioned to Mexico, and
and if he has not disposed of 1t he
must have it STILL"
The above statement is the begin
ming Of an article by ex-Supreme
Cour Justice Walter A. Montgomery
in the New York World.
No Credence in Story.
"It seems strange that any thought
ful person would give the least cred
ence to Jones statement" continued
Judge Montgomery, because the
evacuation of Richmond, though
: sudden, was not unexpected by Mr..
Davis, his Cabinet, or Genera Lee.
Preparations had been made to
meet it-great quantities OF govern
ment property, including machinery
for various manufacturing purposes,
the government archives. books and
papers, having been removed to
places Of safety. There was no in
tention to abandon the contest at that
time. The lines Of retreat and de-
Tense had been agreed upon by Mr..
Davis and General Lee. and at Dan
vile all the departments Of the gov
were opened for business.
Mr.. Davis issued a proclamation to
the country declaring for more deter
mined resistance, and that his posi-
ton had been strengthened by the
withdrawal from Richmond.
lat Charlotte, even after Lee and
Johnston had surrendered, Mr.. Davis
was defiant and insisted upon pro-
tracing the war beyond the Missis-
sippi. 1t would not. therefore, have
been consistent for him to have or
dered the hiding of the seal upon
the evacuation of Richmond if he
was sincere in his Charlotte and Dam
Vile p~roclamations.
"If. however, Mr.. Davis knew that
the Confederate cause was lost when
the government abandoned Rich
mond and determined to hide the
seal ser1an Why for sh fba H. i haze inxtsa chosen Of an a
of his faithful lends and aid who
surrounded him:
"Then again, the seal did not be-
long to Mr.. Davis office and he had
no physical control Of it. BY Section
2 and act of Confederate Congress No.
24-'To organize the Department Of
State-it was declared that it shall
be the duty of the Secretary of State
to keep the Great Seal Of the Con-
fcderate States and to make out and
record all papers Of State and to
atfix said seal
Was Not in Richmond.
And finally, Jones was not in
Richmond when the city was evacu-
Colonel Burton Harrison, In the
Century Magazine for November,
1Ss4-'The Capture Of Jefferson Da-
vis-wrote that he left Richmond at
10 O'Clock at night, Friday, before
evacuation, Sunday, April 2, in a spe-
His party consisted Of Mrs. Davis, her
sister, Miss Howell. her four chill
dren. Ellen. mulatto maid. and
James Jones, mulatto coachman. The
daughters Of Mrs. Trenholm were
also in the party, and two carriagee
horses were also taken along.
n party went direct to Char
lotte, where they remained for a week
or more and then all went to Abbe-
Vile. South Carolina, except Colonel
Wis at DanyilIe.
THE history Of the strange disap-
p~earance Of the Confederate seal is
as follows: On the 2sth OF March,
Of Richmond, j. P. Benjamin. Sec
rotary of State. sent William J.
Bromwell, disbursing clerk of the
department, to Charlotte, North
Carolina, with three boxes of tie be-
longings of that department, where
they were to be put in a place of
safety.
"Bromwe1l, as he was ordered to do
by Mr.. Benjamin. stopped in Dan
vile and got three trunks and four
boxes of records and property Of
the State Department, which he had
stored some weeks previously at the
Danville Female College, under his
superior's directions.
He too the ten packages to
Charlotte. He arrived there on
April l and stored them in a room
in the court house. Five days later
he reported, in writing, to ME-. Ben
5amin that he had placed all of the
boxes In six large strong boxes which
he had made in Charlotte. He SAID
that he die not disturb the contents.
He wrote. however, instead OF hav-