Salmon P. Chase, died May 7, 1873

Salmon P. Chase served as Secretary of the Treasury in President Abraham Lincoln's cabinet from 1861 to 1864, during the Civil War.

In that period of crisis, there were two great changes in American financial policy, the establishment of a national banking system and the issue of paper currency.

The former was Chase's own particular measure. He suggested the idea, worked out the important principles and many of the details, and induced Congress to approve them. It not only secured an immediate market for government bonds, but also provided a permanent uniform, stable national currency. Chase ensured that the Union could sell debt to pay for the war effort. He worked with Jay Cooke & Company to successfully manage the sale of $500 million in government war bonds in 1862.

Jay Cooke 

The first U.S. federal currency, the greenback demand note, was printed in 1861–1862, during Chase's tenure as Secretary of the Treasury. Against his beliefs, and believing issuing greenbacks to be unconstitutional, but with the debts from the war mounting and not being paid, Chase lobbied the congress to pass the Legal Tender Acts of 1862 and 1863. This enabled the printing of paper money as a legal substitute for gold and silver for pre-existing debts including taxes, internal duties, personal debts, and excise taxes. debts.

Secretary Chase instructed James Pollock, Director of the Mint at Philadelphia, to prepare a motto, in a letter dated November 20, 1861:

Dear Sir: No nation can be strong except in the strength of God, or safe except in His defense. The trust of our people in God should be declared on our national coins.  You will cause a device to be prepared without unnecessary delay with a motto expressing in the fewest and tersest words possible this national recognition.

"In God We Trust" was printed on every piece of U.S. currency for the first time in 1864 by order of the Secretary of the Treasury. 

In an effort to further his political career, his face appeared on a variety of U.S. paper currency, starting with the $1 bill so that the people would recognize him. He was nick named "Old Mr. Greenbacks."

Chase Portrait on One Dollar Bill

A devout religious man, Chase read the Bible every day.   He had been an active member of St. Paul Episcopal Cathedral when he lived in Cincinnati, Ohio.  

St. Paul Episcopal Cathedral (left), Cincinnati, Ohio

The last line of the Emancipation Proclamation was written by Chase after he called to the President's attention that there was no mention of the Deity: "And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution, upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of all mankind, and the gracious favor of Almighty God."

Lincoln and his Cabinet at the time of the Emancipation Proclamation

Perhaps Chase's chief defect was an insatiable desire for high office. Throughout his term as Treasury Secretary, Chase exploited his position to build up political support for another run at the Presidency in 1864. He also tried to pressure Lincoln by repeatedly threatening resignation, which he knew would cause Lincoln difficulties with the Radical Republicans.

In June 1864, Lincoln surprised Chase by accepting his offer of resignation. 

Lincoln in his office, 1864

The Republican Party had at that point already nominated Lincoln as its presidential candidate, and the Treasury was in solid shape, so Lincoln no longer needed to keep Chase in the cabinet to forestall a challenge for the presidential nomination. But to placate the Radical wing of the party, Lincoln mentioned Chase as a potential Supreme Court nominee. 

"....I will tell you how it is with Chase. Chase has fallen into two bad habits. He thinks he has became indispensable to the country . . . He also thinks he ought to be President. He has no doubts whatever about that. It is inconceivable to him why people have not found it out, why they don't as one man rise up and say so...He is either determined to annoy me, or that I shall pat him on the shoulder and coax him to stay. I don't think I ought do it. I will not do it. I will take him at his word . . . And yet there is not a man in the Union who would make as good a Chief Justice as Chase, and if I have the opportunity I will make him Chief Justice of the United States .."  

~ Abraham Lincoln

When Chief Justice Roger B. Taney died in October 1864, Lincoln named Chase to replace him. Lincoln issued the nomination on December 6, 1864. Chase was confirmed by the Senate that very day, and immediately received his commission, holding the office from 1864 until his own death in 1873. 

Chase and Supreme Court Justices

Chase was a complete change from the pro-slavery Taney; one of Chase's first acts as Chief Justice was to admit John Rock as the first African-American attorney to argue cases before the Supreme Court.

John Rock

In his capacity as Chief Justice, Chase presided at the impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson in 1868. The Chief Justice brought to the trial a much needed air of dignity and impartiality. As the first impeachment trial of a President under the Constitution, Chase realized that the procedure would set important precedents.

Andrew Johnson

Toward the end of his life, he gradually drifted back toward his old Democratic allegiance, and made an unsuccessful effort to secure the Democratic nomination for the presidency in 1868. He "was passed over because of his stance in favor of voting rights for black men". 

In 1870, Chase suffered a stroke.

Kate Chase Sprague

In his bid for the presidency, he had the aid of his brilliant, beautiful, and wealthy daughter, Kate Chase Sprague, who, as Washington's most lavish hostess, sought to promote his advancement. In spite of the combined efforts of father and daughter, Chase never succeeded in capturing the great prize.   In 1871, The New Departure policy of Ohio Democrat Clement Vallandigham was endorsed by Chase. He helped found the Liberal Republican Party in 1872, unsuccessfully seeking its presidential nomination.  He opposed Ulysses Grant’s reelection in 1872. 

Chase was a Freemason, active in the lodges of Midwestern society.

Chase died of a stroke in New York City on May 7, 1873, at the age of 62. 

His remains were buried first in Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington, D.C.; and later re-interred in Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati, Ohio. 

Grave of Salmon Portland Chase

He was survived by two daughters, Mrs. Kate Sprague and Mrs. (Janet "Nettie" )William S. Hoyt.  After his death, his daughter Kate hid the diaries from Chase's biographers. fearing that the love he had for his first wife, Catherine, lessened the affection he had for her mother, his second wife, Eliza Ann Smith. 

Chase with his young daughters,
Janet and Kate

Judah Benjamin, died May 6, 1884

After the Civil War, Judah Philip Benjamin fled the United States to avoid treason charges.

From London in late 1865, Benjamin provided considerable financial assistance to several friends in the former Confederacy.  Benjamin gave the Jefferson Davis family a gift of $12,000. The gift supported not only the Davis extended family but many of their relatives and friends during the early years of the Reconstruction era.

In England, Benjamin claimed that, having been born on English territory, and never having renounced his citizenship, he remained an Englishman.  His parents had been on their way to New Orleans during the War of 1812 when their ship was chased by an English vessel.  They put in at the Island of St. Croix, and there, on English soil, Judah P. Benjamin was born. His claim of English citizenship being was allowed.

After a brief probation (to allow him to become familiar with the statute law of Britain) he entered the bar in June 1866, only five months after establishing residence in the country.  He began a successful and lucrative second career as a barrister, working in corporate law. He was influential in the commercial law that supported the rise of Great Britain as an imperial power.  

In 1872, he became a Queen’s Counsel, practicing with wig and robes in the House of Lords, and appearing in 136 major cases.  He was the first Jew, and the only person not born in England, who held that position.

He made only two public statements in nineteen years that concerned the war. The first was a three-paragraph letter to the Times of London in September 1865, just after he arrived in England, protesting the imprisonment of Jefferson Davis. The second was a short letter in 1883 contradicting the charge that millions of dollars in Confederate funds were left in European banks under his control. 

He spent a few evenings at dinner with Jefferson Davis when the ex-president visited London five times between 1868 and 1883.  Otherwise, he avoided nostalgic encounters with friends from the South.  When an 1868 general amnesty made it possible for him to return to America openly, he had no desire to leave England. He never returned to the United States.

Jefferson Davis, about 1888

Gradually slowing due to the effects of excess weight, diabetes, and heart disease, his health problems were worsened by head injuries suffered in an 1881 tram accident. Benjamin retired in 1883 on his doctor's advice. He had earned $720,000 during his nearly two decades at the bar in London. 

He moved to Paris, France, where his daughter Ninette and three grandchildren lived. 

Benjamin burned his personal papers--some as be escaped from Richmond in 1865, and all of the rest just before he died--and he left only six scraps of paper at his death.  He left no articles, essays, or books about his role in the war or any other aspect of it.

He died in Paris on May 6, 1884, at the age of 72.

He was buried in Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris under tbe name of "Philippe Benjamin" in the family plot of the Boursignac family, the in-laws of his daughter.  Three grandchildren died in childhood and no direct descendants survived.

In 1938, the Paris chapter of tbe Daughters of the Confederacy provided an inscription to identify the man in the  grave:

JUDAH PHILIP BENJAMIN

BORN ST. THOMAS WEST INDIES AUGUST 6,1811

DIED IN PARIS MAY 6,1884

UNITED STATES SENATOR FROM LOUISIANA

ATTORNEY GENERAL, SECRETARY OF WAR AND

SECRETARY OF STATE OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES

OF AMERICA, 

QUEENS COUNSEL, LONDON

Benjamin's Grave

Hubert Dilger, died May 4, 1911

Hubert Dilger married his wife, Elise, in Philadelphia on September 25, 1865.  Dilger eventually purchased a sprawling horse farm, which he called Greenfield, in the Shenandoah Valley near Front Royal, Virginia, where he raised his family.   Elise gave birth to 14 children; 12 survived to adulthood.

Elise died in 1906 while visiting her daughters in Germany.  They had been married for 46 years.

Dilger in Old Age

Dilger died May 4, 1911 at the age of 75.  He was buried in Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington, D.C.  

Dilger Grave

After his death, a portion of his farm became a remount station for the US Army. 

His son Anton Dilger waged biological warfare for Germany against a still-neutral United States in World War I, infecting horses with anthrax and glanders.

Hubert Dilger was the grandfather of General der Kavallerie Carl-Erik Koehler (1895 – 1958), Generalmajor Hubertus Lamey (1896 – 1981), both of whom served with the Wehrmacht, and Captain Carl Anton Keyser, USNR (1918 - 1995). Captain Keyser served as a Gunnery Officer and later the Executive Officer on board the USS Eberle (DD430) during WW2.

Helen Dortch Longstreet, died May 3, 1962

Helen Dortch became the second wife of General James Longstreet on September 8, 1897, when she was 34 years old and he was 76.  She was widowed in 1904; she did not marry again in the 58 years she survived him.

James and Helen Longstreet

Throughout the remainder of her life, she continued to defend her husband's military career both in print and on the lecture circuit. 

Helen Longstreet (in striped dress) with actress Mary Pickford and United Confederate Veterans Commander Julius Howell at Gettysburg groundbreaking ceremony for Longstreet equestrian statue on July 2, 1941

She organized the Longstreet Memorial Association and raised funds for a statue of her husband at the Gettysburg battlefield.

Bell Aircraft

During World War II, she became a "Rosie the Riveter" at the age of 80, working at the Bell Aircraft plant in Atlanta, Georgia.  She said at the time, "I am going to assist in building a plane to bomb Hitler."  Helen worked the 8 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. shift.  When controversy erupted over unionism, her employers became aware of her age and asked her to quit. Helen refused, stating she had the eyesight of a 20-year-old and was in otherwise perfect health.

Helen Longstreet at work during WWII

She was quoted in The Atlanta Journal on October 12, 1943: "I've been an assembler and riveter for about two years and have never lost a day from work, or been a single minute late. I will quit only when the last battle flag has been furled on land and sea."

At 87, she ran an unsuccessful write-in campaign for governor of the State of Georgia against Herman Talmadge in 1950.  Her platform included repeal of the Jim Crow laws that segregated public life in Georgia.

Herman Talmadge

In 1957, Longstreet was admitted to the Central State Hospital in Milledgeville for mental illness (possibly Alzheimer's). She remained there until her death on May 3, 1962. at the age of 99. 

Central State Hospital in Milledgeville

She was buried in West View Cemetery in Atlanta.

Daniel Sickles, died May 3, 1914

Daniel Sickles had an important part in efforts to preserve the Gettysburg Battlefield,  sponsoring legislation to form the Gettysburg National Military Park, buy up private lands, and erect monuments. One of his contributions was procuring the original fencing used on East Cemetery Hill to mark the park's borders. This fencing came directly from Lafayette Square Park, Washington, D.C. (where he had shot and killed Phillip Barton Key, son of Francis Scott Key). 

Sickles (center)  visiting the site of his Gettysburg wound

Of the principal senior generals who fought at Gettysburg, virtually all, with the conspicuous exception of Sickles, have been memorialized with statues at Gettysburg. When asked why there was no memorial to him, Sickles supposedly said, "The entire battlefield is a memorial to Dan Sickles." However, there was, in fact, a memorial commissioned to include a bust of Sickles, the monument to the New York Excelsior Brigade. It was rumored that the money appropriated for the bust was stolen by Sickles himself; the monument is displayed in the Peach Orchard with a figure of an eagle instead of Sickles' likeness.

Carmina Sickles

Sickles had become attached to his housekeeper, Eleanor Wilmerding.  Sickles’ wife, Carmina, and his son, George Stanton Sickles, had sailed from Europe to New York in 1908. Despite the fact that they had been separated for nearly three decades, the couple seemed to genuinely hope for a reconciliation.  Carmina demanded, however, that in order to reconcile, Sickles was to dismiss Wilmerding from the house. Sickles refused to fire Wilmerding,so Mrs. Sickles and son Stanton resided instead at a nearby hotel. The soap opera was replayed in the New York newspapers, and once again Sickles’ marital life was in the news.

Sickles and Wilmerding

When Oliver Howard died in 1909, Sickles achieved venerated status as Gettysburg’s last surviving corps commander in either army.

In June, 1911, his daughter, Mrs. Edna Sickles Crackenthorpe, wife of a British diplomat, sued Sickles to prevent a disposal of properties to which she believed she was entitled.

Sickles remained busy in retirement, specifically continuing to chair the New York Monuments Commission. Unfortunately, in late 1912, the state controller did an audit of the commission’s books and found approximately $28,486 missing.  Sickles was now in his early nineties, in failing health, personally bankrupt (he had squandered a large inheritance from his father), and embroiled in a messy public squabble between his estranged wife and his housekeeper. His creditors began legal actions, including placing his home in foreclosure. In 1912, Caroline learned that an $8,200 judgment had been placed against Sickles, and his household goods were to be sold at auction. Despite their continuing estrangement, Carmina pawned her jewels to pay his debts. But although her sacrifice received extensive press coverage, it did not lead to reconciliation. When Carmina and Stanton journeyed to Dan’s home to notify him of the payment, they were refused admittance on orders of Wilmerding. An exasperated Stanton complained, “My father is completely in the clutches of this woman.”  A few days later, Sickles issued a statement attacking his wife's motives, and asserting that it was not necessary for her to pawn her jewels.  Although many veterans, and James Longstreet’s widow, were among those who came to his assistance,  Sickles was facing potential jail time. But fifty years worth of battlefield speeches paid off for him.  He was a celebrity and bona fide war hero. 

Helen Dortch Longstreet

New York was facing a public relations nightmare. New York State’s attorney general actually intended to initiate criminal proceedings against the entire eight-man commission. But Sickles requested that he be the sole target of the legal proceedings. The state was serious about recouping the money, but ultimately realized that prosecuting a popular ninety-something war-hero was sensitive business. He was deposed as chairman of the commission.  Sickles’ attorney, Daniel P. Hayes, (whom Dan’s son believed was partially responsible for the missing money) arranged for Sickles to remain free on bond and he avoided jail time. But New York never received the money, and it was an embarrassing end to several decades’ worth of Sickles’ positive preservation work. Not surprisingly, today it historically overshadows all of his better efforts.

Stanton paid $5,000 out of his own pocket. Carmina issued a public appeal for the remaining $23,000. “I wish the public would come to the aid of General Sickles. If I can forgive General Sickles, I think the general public can.”  

One member of the commission stated, “It is most unlikely that the shortage was incurred with dishonorable motives or that there will be any criminal prosecution. General Sickles allowed the shortage to occur through laxness rather than design.”

The Gettysburg battle’s 50th anniversary celebration was held in July 1913.  Newspapers across the country covered the massive Blue and Gray reunion of at least 50,000 veterans. The camps were officially open from June 29 through July 6.

Sickles, signing autographs

Sickles returned to the battlefield that he had helped preserve, and he knew it would be for the last time. “We don’t say it, but ‘my boys’ know, and I know, that we shall probably never meet again.” He was the center of attention, and told newspapers, “I believe I am living right now the happiest days of my life.”

Sickles at the 50th Anniversary of the Gettysburg Battle

Only a few months shy of his ninety-fourth birthday, Sickles arrived in a wheelchair accompanied by Wilmerding and his valet. Sickles was also accompanied by his old Excelsior chaplain, Joe Twichell.  As Sickles and Twichell looked out over the field together one final time, Twichell is said to have expressed surprise that there was still no Sickles statue on the field. A monument to his old Excelsior brigade had been dedicated in 1893 with the understanding at that time that a Sickles statue would be added to it after his death. As late as 1907, Sickles had still hoped for a monument on the battlefield, writing, “if at some future time it may be the pleasure of the State of New York to place some memorial of myself on that battlefield I should prefer to have it on the high ground at or near the Peach Orchard.” Battlefield legend tells us that Sickles allegedly replied to Twichell that the whole damned battlefield was his monument. 

Joseph Twichell (right) at Mark Twain's Birthday Banquet

Approximately six months after returning from Gettysburg, Wilmerding became ill and died in February 1914.

On March 29, 1914, there was rumor was spread that he was at the point of death. Late that night, a New York Times a reporter called up  Sickles's house over the telephone to make inquiry about his condition. The voice at the other end of the wire said: "Yes; this is Gen. Sickles. Am I ill? Nonsense. I was never better in my life. There's nothing to that story. It's all a lie."

Sickles died at his home on Fifth Avenue in New York City on May 3, 1914 at the age of 94. He had been unconscious for several days, following a cerebral hemorrhage.  At his bedside were Mrs. Carmina Sickles and his son, Stanton Sickles, who had been with him constantly for nearly two weeks, following a reconciliation that ended an estrangement of twenty-nine years. His attorney and a nurse were also present.

His funeral was held at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Manhattan on May 8, 1914. 

He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Sickles' Tombstone

He died bankrupt. His will named as his heirs his three grandchildren: Daniel E. Sickles, 10-year-old son of Stanton Sickles, who lived with his mother at 36 Avenue Henri Martin, Paris; George Christopher Crackenthorpe, 13 years old;  and Ida Blanche Crackenthorpe, 11 years old, children of Mrs. Ida Sickles Crackenthorpe.  However, apart from his home on Fifth Avenue, there was little to distribute to his grandchildren or to the servants to whom he left bequests.

Sickles' Amputated Leg

Sickles' amputated leg is at the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command headquarters building at Fort Detrick, Maryland.

J.P. Ball, died May 4, 1904

In October 1887, James Presley Ball moved to Helena, Montana, where the "J. P. Ball & Son" studio was established. Ball photographed hundreds of people in the white, black and Chinese communities. Among other projects, he photographed the building of the state capitol. Ball was elected a delegate to the Republican convention in Montana territory in 1894. He later became president of Montana's Afro-American Club and co-founded the St. James AME Church.  Ball’s son edited a newspaper, the Colored Citizen.

Seattle, 1900

 In 1900, the Ball family moved to Seattle, Washington, where Ball opened the Globe Photo Studio.  Ball remained active in civic affairs, and founded and organized Shriners' lodges in Seattle and Portland.

As Ball suffered from rheumatism, in 1902 the family moved to Honolulu, Hawaii, for his health..

Honolulu, Hawaii

Ball died there on May 4, 1904, at the age of 79.

Alice Augusta Ball

His granddaughter, Alice Augusta Ball, who was 12 years old when J.P. Ball died, was the first woman (and the first African American) to earn a Masters’ degree from the University of Hawaii. She was the first to extract active ingredients in chaulmoogra oil to treat Hansen’s disease (leprosy), which had afflicted the Native Hawaiian community since the 1860s.

Henry Flipper, died May 3, 1940

Henry Flipper never married.  He retired to Atlanta at age 75 to live with  his brother, Bishop Joseph Flipper.

On May 3, 1940, Henry O. Flipper, at the age of 84, was found dead in his bedroom of a heart attack. 

Flipper was buried in the family grave site at the Southview Cemetery in Atlanta , Georgia . His brother, Bishop Flipper, placed a headstone at his grave that read, "Lt. Henry O. Flipper, Retired U.S. Army Officer, 1856-1940."

In 1978 , Lt. Flipper came home again to Thomasville, 101 years after his last homecoming. His remains were disinterred and then re-interred in the Old Magnolia Cemetery in Thomasville. He was buried beside his mother and father.  The homecoming began at the First Missionary Baptist Church , where about 500 people black, white, dignitaries and common people alike came to pay their respects. 

Grave of Henry Flipper

In 1972, the Ray MacColl, a Valdosta , Georgia school teacher, began researching Lt. Flipper's case at the urging of  Irsle Flipper King, Flipper's niece, of Valdosta and other family members, including citizens from Thomasville.  In 1976, family members and supporters applied to the Army Board for the Correction of Military Records on behalf of Flipper. The Board, after stating that it did not have the authority to overturn his court-martial conviction, concluded the conviction and punishment were "unduly harsh and unjust" and recommended that Flipper’s dismissal be changed to a good conduct discharge. The Assistant Secretary of the Army and the Adjutant General  approved the Board's findings, conclusions, and recommendations and directed that the Army issue Flipper a Certificate of Honorable Discharge, dated June 30, 1882, in lieu of his dismissal on the same date. 

In 1997, a private law firm filed an application of pardon with the Army on Flipper's behalf.  Many pardon applications had been rejected in the past because the intended recipients were deceased. However, President Bill Clinton pardoned Flipper on February 19, 1999.

After his discharge was changed, a bust of Flipper was unveiled at West Point. Since then, an annual Henry O. Flipper Award has been granted to graduating cadets at the Academy who exhibit "leadership, self-discipline, and perseverance in the face of unusual difficulties."

On March 30, 2007 , the Army at Fort Leavenworth , Kansas , took another step in honoring Lt. Henry O. Flipper’s legacy with the dedication of a bronze bust of him at the Buffalo Soldier Monument at Fort Leavenworth . It sits on a concrete pedestal that chronicles his military and civilian careers.

Bust of Henry Flipper at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas