The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1912-06-26
TO the Editor Of The State:
w. P. Calhoun.

In a recent editorial you unhesitatingly
assert that the Thomas o. Selfridge seal
about which much is being written is the
genuine original seal Of the Southern Con-
federacy. After indorsing the line follow
ed by Mr.. Salley and agreeing with his
conclusion, you go further and seem to
rest your case on the fact that the seal
which was at Abbeville. SC, in 1855, where
Mr.. Davis held his last cabinet meeting,
was a copy. You have not the slightest
fact to base such a conclusion on. That
it was the original seal, there a be no
doubt, regardless of the we'll put up tale
by Cromwell and Pickett, the curio sellers.
1t seems that about 1872 Bromwell
through Pickett sold or gave to Selfridge
what they represented to be the lost seal
Of the Coniederacy with the tale that has
recently been brought prominently to
light. Cromwell and Pickett, as the facts
show, were curio sellers for the money
that was in IL.
1t is a fact that can not be disputed that
President Davis held his last cabinet meet
ing at Abbeville, s. c., in 1865; and the
same authorities that prove that fact
prove that the seal OF the C~onfederacy
was there and seen by men whose words
can not be disputed; and that Judah P.
Benjamin was there, the custodian OF the
seal; and that there and then it was decid-
ed to destroy the seal, a fact proved by
some Of the most substantial men that
South Carolina ever produced; and who
say that what they saw and advised the
destruction Of was the seal Of the Confed-
eracy, no suspicion OF it being a copy ex-
listing. Those.men were not curio sellers.
Mr.. Benjamin never would have allowed
himself to be a party to the farce Of de-
stroying a mere copy Of that seal when he
knew where the original was.
There is no doubt about the fact that
Admiral Selfridge believed that he had the
original seal Of the Confederacy.
You assert in a ann which you in
tend, it seems to be final, in disposing OF
the Abbeville end Of the controversy, that
the seal seen there was a copy. Where is
your proof? Can you name one ground
upon which to be such a far fetched infer
ence? II so. let us have it.
By asserting that the Selfridge seal is
the original you place the words Of two
curio sellers agains the words Of Armis.
tead Burt, VIM. Henry Parker, Thomas G.
Perrin, Davis L. Wardlaw and other men,
who were present, saw the seal and who
state what took place in regard to it with
a minuteness that cannot be questioned
During all of that discussion Mr.. Benja'
min did not hint even that it was a copy
According to the Atlanta Constitution
the Selfridge seal is to be submitted to the
original makers for their opinion as to its
genuineness before the purchasers pay
over the money, there being a clause il
the contract Of sale TO that effect.
Before you can assert that the seal seen
at Abbeville was a copy you must prove
anu not assert that it was a copy. Fur
ther, you will have to disprove the testi
mony Of the men named above and the &C
quiescence Of MI. Benjamin in the destruc,
tlon Of what ne knew to be a copy. You
must show further that Cromwell was al
Abbeville at the time named, and secures
the seal, after it had been decided to de-
stroy it in some way. The seal having
undoubtedly been at Abbeville and not
Charlotte, n. c., in the absence of Brom'
well from Abbeville, kills dead the whole
frabric OF the Bromwell- Pickett story, and
discredits the statement that they got II