Everything I've read online is that Lucy Pickens is pictured on the $1 and $100 bill. I ran across some information that may not be the case. What is the current expert information on this subject?
That is Doug's great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great granddaughter. Chris
I read a lot of obscure history books (actually, have my phone text2speech while I commute). A few weeks ago I ran across a footnote that caught my attention. While I usually collect coins, occasionally I collect old CSA notes because they are interesting and historical. I have a $100 CSA note and knew that Lucy Pickens was pictured on it. The text that caught my attention was: "...Mr. Trenholm's daughter, Helen, whose portrait appears on an issue of Confederate bank notes." Mr. George Trenholm was involved in the CSA Treasury and Government, and eventually became the CSA Secretary of the Treasury. This was from a book published in 1913, A Confederate Girl's Diary, by Sarah Morgan Dawson, bottom of pg 264: https://archive.org/stream/aconfederategir01dawsgoog#page/n291/mode/2up Intrigued, I looked up various photos of CSA notes and found the T44 also had a picture of a woman, but this did not look like Lucy Pickens to me. I did some more searching an located the FindGrave site of "Helen Trenholm", complete with a photograph, which to me, resembles the woman on the T44 bill more than Lucy Pickens: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=39778753 Thoughts?
An article discusses it here....http://www.deerrunmercantile.com/t-44confederatemoneylucypickensonedollarveryfine1862.aspx
From Confederate States Paper Money, edited by George S. Cuhaj, page 52, the notation for T-43 reads: "At left a figure said to represent Liberty but which is more likely a nondescript product of the artist's imagination". Vignettes same on T-44.
In Grover Criswell's book (4th ed.), "Confederate Paper Money," he describes Type 44 as follows: "...the female portrait is that of Lucy Holcombe Pickens, the wife of the governor of South Carolina..." Incidentally, Wikipedia has a long article about her, and cites her birth and death years as 1832 and 1899. She was courted by Col. Francis Pickens, who was soon to be defeated as a candidate for Senator from South Carolina. When he was then appointed as Ambassador to Russia in 1858, Lucy accepted his proposal of marriage. Pickens resigned as Ambassador in 1860 as talk about Secession grew stronger and stronger. He was elected Governor in 1860, three days before South Carolina seceded. Their first child was born in Russia, and both Lucy and her child became favorites of Tsar Alexander II. At Criswell's IRS-seizure auction in Jacksonville, some 20 years ago, Grover told me to buy as much Trenholm memorabilia as I could afford, and I did. I had over 400 original signed documents after the auction, and went about selling them to Trenholm's MANY descendants. I just went out and looked for my copy of a much later book about Trenholm, but couldn't find it. When I do, I'll follow up this post with more information. This does not quite solve the issue, but Grover Criswell knew more about Confederate money than anyone I ever met, with the possible exception of Douglas Ball. His book says the woman is Lucy, and that's good enough for me. ========== edit// From another source, "...George Alfred Trenholm married Anna Helen Holmes. The couple had a very large family; five of their children died in infancy." Before the Civil War, Trenholm was one of the wealthiest men in America. He was appointed as Secretary of the (Confederate) Treasury near the end of the war (1864). edit2// From another source, "... Photo: Anna Helen Trenholm Morgan Headstone Category: Other Description: Burial: Magnolia Cemetery Charleston Charleston County South Carolina USA Attached To: Anna Helen Trenholm (1842-1866) What puzzles me here is the additional surname "Morgan"? And a "very large" family by age 24?? I love history.
Helen Trenholm married James "Jimmy" Morgan in the Civil War, had a daughter, but died in 1866 from illness. James Morgan was quite a character. James Morgan wrote a book about his life "Recollections of a Rebel Reefer", which is now public domain and can be downloaded on the internet. Very interesting stuff. In addition to being in the CSA Navy during the war and raiding northern commerce, escorting J. Davis & family + CSA treasury during the evacuation of Richmond, traveling through Europe, serving in the Egyptian Army as a mercenary, his book recollects engineering and being present for the laying the cornerstone to the base of the Statue of Liberty, and speculating in silver mining in Mexico in the late 1800's. Back to the paper money issue... Here is a side by side comparison: Is the image on the 1862 CSA Dollar at far right Lucy Pickens (as is current accepted knowledge) or is it Helen? Combined with this: "...Mr. Trenholm's daughter, Helen, whose portrait appears on an issue of Confederate bank notes." A Confederate Girl's Diary, by Sarah Morgan Dawson (sister-in-law of Helen Trenholm), published 1913, bottom of pg 264: https://archive.org/stream/aconfederategir01dawsgoog#page/n291/mode/2up
Yes, the left image on the bill (the one holding the shield and banner) is "Liberty" type figure, but the lower right of the bill (the far right image in the previous post) is the image in question. All the sources I can find say it is Lucy Pickens, but I am skeptical, due to reasons listed in previous posts.
I'll be in touch with one of the most prominent Confederate stamp dealers, Patricia Kauffman, early next month, and I'll ask her opinion too. If I have time Sunday, I'll browse through the Library of Congress website and look for post Civil War commentary.
The woman at the lower right is a young Mrs. Lucy Pickens. She was the wife of the governor of South Carolina during the War. The left side features a woman representing LIBERTY standing with a shield. On many of the early notes, you will find images of mythological gods and goddesses, while later on southern Military figures and themes prevailed more. Hope that helps.
