Browse Items (31 total)

Article about Ulysses S. Grant's Order expelling Jews from the Department of Tennessee, Grant's military district. In the order, Grant accused Jews of "violating every regulation of trade established by the Treasury Department," including the trade…

Letter from Elihu B. Washburne to Abraham Lincoln taking issue with his decision to revoke Ulysses S. Grant's General Orders No. 11, expelling Jews from his military department.

Sanford, the Union's minister to Belgium, describes a reception he attended held by the French minister of foreign affairs, Edouard Thouvenel, in Paris. Thouvenel stopped Sanford to tell him that he hoped the war would end soon to reopen the free…

This affidavit, written by Alphonse Boudousquie and certified by Governor Michael Hahn, affirmed that Fergus Peniston and William Pike owned substantial quantities of cotton and were loyal citizens of the United States during the war. Affidavits like…

Treasury agent Hanson Risley wrote to Lincoln's private secretary John G. Nicolay requesting a copy of Fergus Peniston's cotton permit. Risley was a key figure in the wartime cotton trade and was later called to testify before Congress regarding…

Vice President Hannibal Hamlin wrote to President Lincoln requesting that he expand the terms of the cotton permit for Fergus Peniston. The support of influential politicians and administration insiders was helpful for merchants seeking permission to…

In this second petition to President Lincoln, Louisiana cotton merchant Fergus Peniston reiterated his request for an exemption from a particular tax on his cotton that was passed after he acquired the cotton and freedom to trade outside…

Just three months after he issued the Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln issued a proclamation to reform the cotton trading system laid out in 1861. As trade grew in the Mississippi Valley in 1862 and 1863, the permit system was plagued by…

In this letter, Fergus Peniston, a Louisiana cotton merchant, requested permission from the executive branch to transport a substantial amount of cotton to market. He further petitioned President Lincoln for relief from certain taxes and to trade…

This letter to President Lincoln from former Congressman Samuel L. Casey was written on behalf of Fergus Peniston, a Louisiana cotton merchant seeking permission to transport his supplies to market. Support from politicians and friends of the…