President Jefferson Davis Name George Trenholm Role Politician | Political party Democratic Party Democratic Party Spouse(s) Anna Helen Holmes | |
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Born February 25, 1807
Charleston, South Carolina, US ( 1807-02-25 ) Died December 9, 1876, Charleston, South Carolina, United States | ||
Preceded by Christopher Memminger Succeeded by John Henninger Reagan | ||
George Alfred Trenholm (February 25, 1807 – December 9, 1876) was a prominent politician in the Confederate States of America and served as the Secretary of the Treasury during the final year of the American Civil War.
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Biography
George Alfred Trenholm was born in Charleston, South Carolina. When his father, William Trenholm, died, George left school early. He went to work for a major cotton broker, John Fraser and Company in Charleston. By 1853 he was head of the company, and by 1860 he was one of the wealthiest men in the United States. He had financial interests in steamships, hotels, cotton, plantations, and slaves; he was also director of the Bank of Charleston and of a South Carolina railroad.
When the Civil War broke out, his company - now called Fraser, Trenholm and Company - became the Confederate government's overseas banker. With an office in Liverpool, it arranged cotton sales and financed its own fleet of blockade runners. Trenholm worked with the American James Dunwoody Bulloch as a Confederate foreign agent in Britain to manage their arrangements. Britain depended on cotton exports, and maintenance of the trade helped with public opinion toward the Confederacy, as well as with financing.
Christopher Memminger used Trenholm as an unofficial adviser throughout his own term as Secretary of the Treasury. Trenholm was appointed to that post on July 18, 1864. He was a more charismatic figure than his predecessor, and this helped him with the press and with Congress.
Trenholm fled Richmond with the rest of the government in April 1865 and reached Fort Mill, South Carolina. Due to illness he asked President Jefferson Davis to accept his resignation, which Davis accepted with his thanks on April 27, 1865. Trenholm was later briefly imprisoned at Fort Pulaski near Savannah, Georgia.
Gone with the Wind
Many believe that Trenholm was the inspiration for the character of Rhett Butler in Margaret Mitchell's novel, Gone with the Wind.
Private life
George Alfred Trenholm married Anna Helen Holmes. The couple had a very large family; five of their children died in infancy.
Trenholm is the great-great-grandfather of Virginia politician Charles S. "Chuck" Robb.
Treasures
Trenholm, who was Treasurer of the Confederate States of America for the last year of the American Civil War, was arrested after the war and accused of making off with millions in Confederate assets.