Christopher Memminger

Christopher Gustavus Memminger
1st Confederate States Secretary of the Treasury
In office February 25, 1861 – June 15, 1864
Preceded by	Office instituted
Succeeded by	George Trenholm
Personal details
Born	January 9, 1803(1803-01-09) Vaihingen an der Enz, Württemberg
Died	March 7, 1888(1888-03-07) (aged 85) Flat Rock, North Carolina
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Mary Wilkinson Memminger (1812-1875)
Profession	Politician, Lawyer
Religion	Episcopalian

Christopher Gustavus Memminger (January 9, 1803 – March 7, 1888) was a prominent political leader and the first Secretary of the Treasury for the Confederate States of America.

Early life and career

Memminger was born in Vaihingen an der Enz, Germany (in what was then the Duchy of Württemberg). His father, Gottfried Memminger, was a military officer who died in combat a month after his son's birth. His mother, Eberhardina Kohler Memminger, immigrated to Charleston, South Carolina, in the United States but died of yellow fever in 1807. Christopher was placed in an orphanage.^[1]

Memminger's fortunes changed when, at the age of eleven, he was taken under the care of Thomas Bennett, a prominent lawyer and future Governor. Memminger was quite intelligent and entered South Carolina College at the age of 12 and graduated second in his class at 16. Memminger passed the bar in 1825 and became a successful lawyer. He married Mary Withers Wilkinson in 1832.

He was a leader of the opponents during the nullification excitement. He published The Book of Nullification (1832-33) which satirized the advocates of the doctrine in biblical style.^[2] He entered state politics and served in the South Carolina state legislature from 1836 to 1852 and 1854 to 1860, where for nearly twenty years he was the head of the finance committee.^[3] Memminger was a staunch advocate of education and helped give Charleston one of the most comprehensive public school systems in the country.^[4] In 1859, after John Brown's raid, he was commissioned by South Carolina to consult with other delegates in Virginia as to the best method of warding off attacks of abolitionists.^[5]

Civil War

The original Confederate Cabinet. L-R: Judah P. Benjamin, Stephen Mallory, Christopher Memminger, Alexander Stephens, LeRoy Pope Walker, Jefferson Davis, John H. Reagan and Robert Toombs.

Memminger was considered a moderate on the secession issue, but after Lincoln's election, Memminger decided secession was necessary. When South Carolina seceded from the United States in 1860, Memminger was asked to write the Declaration of the Immediate Causes Which Induce and Justify the Secession of South Carolina from the Federal Union which outlined the reasons for secession. When other states also seceded, Memminger was selected as a South Carolina delegate to the provisional congress which formed the Confederate States of America, and was the chairman of the committee which drafted the Confederate Constitution. The twelve-man committee produced a provisional constitution in only four days.

When Jefferson Davis formed his first cabinet, Memminger was chosen as Secretary of the Treasury on February 21, 1861. It was a difficult task, in view of the financial challenges facing the Confederacy. Memminger attempted to finance the government initially via bonds and tariffs (and confiscation of gold from the United States Mint in New Orleans), but soon found himself forced to more extreme measures such as income taxation and fiat currency. Memminger had been a supporter of hard currency before the war, but found himself issuing increasingly devalued paper money, which by war's end was worth less than two percent of its face value in gold.

Resignation

Memminger resigned his post as Secretary of the Treasury on July 18, 1864 and was replaced by fellow South Carolinian George Trenholm. Memminger returned to his summer residence in Flat Rock, Henderson County, North Carolina. In the post-war years, Memminger returned to Charleston, received a presidential pardon in 1866, and returned to private law practice and business investment. He also continued his work on developing South Carolina's public education system and was voted to a final term in the state legislature in 1877.

Legacy

Memminger was featured on the Confederate $5.00 bill.^[6]

Bibliography

• Patrick, Rembert W. (1944). Jefferson Davis and His Cabinet. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press. pp. 205–234.
• Schwab (1901). The Confederate States of America, 1861-65: A Financial and Industrial History of the South During the Civil War. New York.

References

1. ^ Patrick 1944, p. 205.
2. ^  "Memminger, Charles Gustavus". Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. 1900. 
3. ^  "Memminger, Christopher Gustavus". New International Encyclopedia. 1905. 
4. ^ Patrick 1944, pp. 205–206.
5. ^  "Memminger, Christopher Gustavus". Encyclopedia Americana. 1920. 
6. ^ "Legendary Coins and Currency: Confederacy, 5 dollars, 1862". National Museum of American History. http://americanhistory.si.edu/coins/printable/coin.cfm?coincode=5_05. Retrieved 2011-08-12. 

External links

• Christopher Memminger at Find a Grave

Confederate States House of Representatives
Preceded by none	Representative to the Provisional Confederate Congress from South Carolina 1861	Succeeded by none
Political offices
Preceded by none	Confederate States Secretary of the Treasury 1861–1864	Succeeded by George Trenholm

Persondata
Name	Memminger, Christopher Gustavus
Alternative names
Short description	South Carolina politician
Date of birth	January 9, 1803
Place of birth	Württemberg, Germany
Date of death	March 7, 1888
Place of death	Flat Rock, North Carolina