Circa 1910 Handwritten Letter Regarding a Cache of Confederate Currency & The U.S. Secret Service during the Civil War
Vineland, New Jersey: Not Published, 1910. Manuscript. Good. Item #028555
Two sides, handwritten on pink paper. Salutation to "Sister Agnes" who had inquired regarding some Confederate currency her brother had sent her. He explains, "...The Confederate $ 50 bill you have is one of a lot of different denominations of like character amounting to Ten Thousand dollars & which I found concealed in the Elbow of a lot of old stove pipe purchased when in business about 1907. The find was published in The Vineland Evening Journal and as a result I received many congratulations. When we moved to Mass. I distributed among GAR comrades probably 50 or 60 of them as farewell souvenirs. When in the secret service stationed at Baltimore in 1864 I captured a large lot of Confederate Bills, State Bonds and playing cards each of the 52 in the deck or Back contained the picture of Reb. Officers both army and navy, Mason & Slidell and Jeff Davis. I still have samples of all captured. The balance were destroyed. The capture was made at a hotel in B.- also two men in whose possession they were and who were bound for the South where they intended to sell their goods. They were printed in N.Y. City. Very truly your Bro. L.T.B...." With a personal news postscript overwriting the opening greeting a bit. Undated and internal evidence suggests a date of 1910. Approx. 5" x 7 3/4" size, on plain light pink notepaper. Worn and soft, old fold lines, closed tears; in good condition.
Price: $65.00