WILLIAM PITT FESSENDEN WILLIAM PITT FESSENDEN Secretary of the Treasury, from July 5, 1864, to March 3, 1865. Born at Boscawen, New Hampshire, October 16, 1806. Son of Samuel and Ruth (Greene) Fessenden. Educated at Bowdoin College. Married Ellen Maria Deering. Died in Portland, Maine, September 5, 1869. 1832-Member Maine Legislature. 1840-Member Maine Legislature. 1841-Member national House of Representatives. 1845-Member Maine Legislature. 1853-United States Senator. 1864-Secretary of the Treasury. After completing his collegiate course Mr. Fessenden studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1827. He removed to Maine, where he had a distinguished career as a lawyer and as a member of the United States Senate, being regarded as one of the strongest members of that body. As chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance he did much to direct financial legislation during the war between the states. Such was the confidence of the financial interests in his ability that on the news of his appointment as head of the Treasury Department being made public the price of gold fell rapidly. He was able to dispose of five hundred million dollars of government bonds on very favorable terms. During his last term in the Senate he voted against the impeachment of President Johnson. H HUGH MCCULLOCH UGH MCCULLOCH-Secretary of the Treasury from March 9, 1865, to March 4, 1869, and from October 31, 1884, to March 7, 1885. Born at Kennebunk, Maine, December 7, 1808. Son of Hugh and Abigail (Perkins) McCulloch. Educated at Bowdoin College. Married, in 1838, Susan Mann. Died near Washington, District of Columbia, May 24, 1895. 1863-Comptroller of the Currency. Among the Secretaries of the Treasury Hugh McCulloch will always occupy a high place. Born in the state of Maine he received his education at Bowdoin College and then entered upon the study of the law in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1833 he made up his mind that he wanted to cast in his lot with the people of the West, as a more sure place for a young man to climb up the ladder. So, in that year, with a small amount of money but unlimited energy, he began his journey westward in search of a location. His choice finally fell upon Fort Wayne, Indiana, as his future home. There he began the practice of his chosen profession, but did not continue very long in the practice, for in 1835, when the Fort Wayne branch of the State Bank of Indiana was organized, he was made cashier and manager of the new bank. The old State Bank of Indiana is still spoken of as a model banking institution and it was in that model bank Mr. McCulloch began his financial career. He was so successful in managing the Fort Wayne branch that in 1839 he was appointed a director of the mother bank, a position he held until the expiration of the bank's charter in 1857. Before the charter of the state bank expired the legislature gave a charter to a new bank to be called the "Bank of the State of Indiana," and refused to renew the charter of the old bank. When it came time to organize the new bank to begin business it was found that none of the organizers was a practical banker and thus they found themselves greatly handicapped. To get out of the difficulty it was proposed to purchase the various branches of the old bank and thus obtain the services of practical and experienced bankers. The owners of the branch banks refused to sell except on condition that Mr. McCulloch be made president of the new bank. This was finally agreed to and Mr. Culloch removed to Indianapolis. The new bank had hardly got into working condition when the great panic of 1857 spread disaster over all the country. All the banks in the East, except the Chemical of New York, and all in the South and West, except the Bank of the State of Indiana and the State Bank of Kentucky, were forced to suspend specie payment. When the first mutterings of the coming Civil War were heard, Mr. McCulloch was shrewd enough to foresee that should war actually come gold would command a large premium. To prepare for this he instructed the managers of the various branches of his bank to use every dollar not needed in their regular business in the purchase of gold. When he resigned the presidency of the bank in 1863 to accept the position of comptroller of the currency under the law establishing the national banking system, his wisdom in ordering the purchase of gold was seen, for his bank, with a capital of three million dollars, had in its vaults three million three hundred thousand dollars in gold coin. Later the premium on this large amount of coin gave the bank a very large profit. When the question of establishing a national banking system was first before Congress Mr. McCulloch was one of the most earnest and active opponents of the scheme, but later changed his views when he saw how necessary such a system was to enable the government to secure funds with which to prosecute the war. In 1863, about the time the law creating the national banking system passed Congress, Mr. McCulloch passed through Washington on his way East. Calling at the Treasury Department he left his card for Secretary Chase, whom he had never met. When he returned to Indianapolis he found a num ber of telegrams from Secretary Chase urging him to return to Washington and accept the position of comptroller of the currency, a new office just created by act of Congress. After some hesitation he accepted, and on May 9, 1863, took active charge of putting the new system into successful operation. His thorough knowledge of correct banking and his sound conservatism peculiarly fitted him for this new position, and his energy and administrative ability soon won the confidence of bankers and financiers throughout the country. The reports of Mr. McCulloch and his instructions and advice to those organizing banks under the new system, while he was comptroller of the currency, are a mine of healthy banking rules. On March 7, but three days after his second inaugural, President Lincoln sent to the Senate the name of Mr. McCulloch as Secretary of the Treasury. He was unanimously confirmed and he at once entered upon the discharge of his duties as head of the department. Almost immediately after the close of the war Secretary McCulloch advocated the gradual withdrawal of the legal tender notes, or, as commonly called, "greenbacks." This recommendation was endorsed by the House of Representatives by a vote of one hundred and forty-four to six. Immediately after the assassination of President Lincoln there were indications of a panic in Wall Street, which Secretary McCulloch promptly checked by purchasing, through a trusted agent, all bonds of the government offered for sale at less than par. It was important for the government to prevent a panic, as it expected in a very short time to put on the market a large amount of securities to meet the pressing demands of the treasury, and the timely act of Secretary McCulloch restored confidence to the money market, prevented a money strin= gency and paved the way for the successful negotiation of the new loan. On several other occasions Secretary McCulloch steadied the money market by purchasing for the government all its bonds offered for sale at a discount. In getting the internal revenue system and the collection customs duties in working order in the lately seceded states, Secretary McCulloch met with many difficulties, mainly because of the test oath, required by the act of Congress to be taken by all government officers, and he suggested and urged a modification of the oath. This suggestion was bitterly assailed by Senator Sumner and others, but was finally accepted by Congress. Secretary McCulloch, while not approving of all the acts of President Johnson in his contention with Congress over the problem of reconstruction, felt that he owed it to the country to remain at the head of the Treasury Department, and he did so remain through the administration of President Johnson. After leaving the Treasury Department Mr. McCulloch entered into the banking business in New York and London. In October, 1884, the Treasury Department was once more without a head and President Arthur induced Mr. McCulloch to again take it. President Arthur's term was drawing to a close and Mr. McCulloch had little opportunity to do more in the department than to weed out some of the mistakes made by his predecessors. At the close of the administration Mr. McCulloch once more retired to private life. GE GEORGE SEWALL BOUTWELL EORGE S. BOUTWELL-Secretary of the Treasury from March 12, 1869, to March 17, 1873. Born in Brookline, Massachusetts, January 28, 1818. Son of Sewall and Rebecca (Marshall) Boutwell. Educated in the common schools. Married, July 8, 1841, Sarah Adelia Thayer. Died in Groton, Massachusetts, February 27, 1905. 1842-Member Massachusetts Legislature. 1851-Governor of Massachusetts. 1853-Member Massachusetts Constitutional Convention. 1863-Member national House of Representatives. 1869 Secretary of the Treasury. 1873-United States Senator. George S. Boutwell was the first Commissioner of Internal Revenue of the United States, and for many years was one of the leading international lawyers of the country, serving also as Secretary of the Treasury in the cabinet of President Grant, as a member of the lower house of Congress and as United States senator. He was a descendant of an old Massachusetts family. He attended the public schools and at the age of thirteen years was placed as a clerk in a store and at the age of sixteen taught school. To be a lawyer was his dream and to the study of that science he gave all his spare time. In politics he was an active Democrat and by repeated elections served ten years in the State Legislature. As a legislator he took great interest in all matters pertaining to education and in 1857 was appointed a member of the Harvard College Board of Overseers. In 1851 he was elected governor of the state by a fusion of the Democrats and Free Soilers. For seven years he served as a member of the Massachusetts Board of Education. When Congress provided for the Bureau of Internal Revenue, Governor Boutwell was appointed the first commissioner and organized the bureau, putting the revenue law into effect. When the bureau was first organized no cashier was provided for by law and the commissioner was not required to give a bond. In 1864 the law was changed, providing for a cashier to handle all the money in place of the commissioner, and the commissioner, having been relieved of the handling and care of the money, was required to give a bond. In 1863 Mr. Boutwell was elected to Congress as a Republican and served until 1869, when he resigned to accept a place in the cabinet of President Grant as Secretary of the Treasury. In Congress he was regarded as one of the strongest debaters on the Republican side, taking great interest in the financial legislation. Mr. Boutwell supported the congressional plan of reconstruction. He presented to the House a series of resolutions declaring in substance that the communities that had been in rebellion could be organized into states only by the will of the loyal people expressed freely and in the absence of all coercion; that states so organized could become states of the Union only upon application and upon affirmative action of the national government. He drafted the amendment to the appropriation bill of 1866 which took the control of the army from the President and gave it to the commander-in-chief of the army. He reported the fifteenth amendment to the Constitution and the resolutions declaring that President Johnson should be impeached, and was chairman of the committee appointed to prepare the articles of impeachment and was also one of the house managers at the impeachment trial. In 1869, when General Grant became President, he desired Alexander T. Stewart, an eminent merchant of New York, for Secretary of the Treasury and nominated him for that office. The nomination was confirmed by the Senate and then it was discovered that under an act passed in 1789 Mr. Stewart was ineligible, being engaged in the importation of foreign merchandise. Mr. Stewart declined and Mr. Boutwell was nominated. As Secretary of the Treasury Mr. Boutwell displayed great financial and administrative ability. He originated the plan for refunding the public debt at a lower rate of interest and, through Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Richardson, whom he sent to Europe for that purpose, succeeded in placing several hundred millions of five per cent bonds. These bonds were sent to Europe in three safes under extraordinary precautions. The safes were sent by different steamers. Each safe was provided with three locks, requiring different keys. The keys were sent by special messengers, each messenger carrying one key. As fast as the bonds were disposed of the proceeds were deposited in the Bank of England and holders of bonds bearing a higher rate of interest were called upon to present them for payment. The law of 1862 provided for the establishment of a sinking fund for the liquidation of the public debt, but no steps had been taken to carry out the intent of the act and nothing done to provide for the redemption of the government's obligations as had been promised when the government was a borrower. Secretary Boutwell at once addressed himself to establishing this long-neglected sinking fund. In his four years' service as Secretary the payments on the public debt reached three hundred and sixty-four millions. In 1869 the government was paying interest, measured at the gold value, of seven per cent. In 1873, when Mr. Boutwell left the depart |