MSS 771 George S. Boutwell Papers

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H I S T O R Y MSS 771
George Sewall Boutwell Papers
1 / 4 cubic f o o t
Preliminary i n v e n t o r y
C o l l e c t i o n Synopsis
Provenance: The Ohio H i s t o r i c a l S o c i e t y acquired t h e George Sewall
Boutwell Papers i n October 1945. Barbara Floyd processed the c o l l e c -
t i o n i n June 1983.
Property r i g h t s : The Ohio H i s t o r i c a l S o c i e t y owns t h e p r o p e r t y
r i g h t s t o t h i s c o l l e c t i o n .
Copyrights: Copyrights have not been d e d i c a t e d t o t h e p u b l ~ c .
C o n s i d e r a t i o n o f t h e r e q u i r e m e n t s o f c o p y r i g h t is t h e r e s p o n s i b i l i t y
of t h e a u t h o r and p u b l i s h e r .
Access: This c o l l e c t i o n i s open under rhe r u l e s and r e g u l a t i o n s
of t h e Ohio H i s t o r i c a l S o c i e t y .
C i t a t i o n : Researchers a r e r e q u e s t e d t o cite c o l l e c t i o n name, c o l l e c -
t i o n number, and t h e Ohio H i s t o r i c a l S o c i e t y i n a l l f o o t n o t e and
b i b l i o g r a p h i c r e f e r e n c e s .
B i s t o r i c a l s k e t c h : George Sewall Boutwell was born January 28,
1818, i n Brookline, Massachusetts. A f t e r working i n merchandising,
he s t u d i e d law an2 was admitted t o t h e bar i n 1836. From 1842 t o
1851 he s e r v e d a s a Democratic r e p r e s e n t a t i v e i n t h e Massachusetts
l e g i s l a t u r e . A f t e r two u n s u c c e s s f u l a t t e m p t s , Boutwell became
governor of the s t a t e through t h e c r e a t i o n of a c o a l i t i o n with t h e
Free S o i l P a r t y . He helped o r g a n i z e t h e Republican P a r t y a f t e r
passage of t h e Xansas- Nebraska A c t . Serving as a d e l e g a t e t o the
1860 Republican convention, he helped nominate Abraham Lincoln.
L i n c o l n a p p o i n t e d him f i r s t Commissioner of I n t e r n a l Revenue i n
1862. A s a U. S. congressman i n 1868 Boutwell advocated the impeach-ment
of Andrew Johnson and was chosen chairman of the impeachment
c o r m i t t e e . The following year P r e s i d e n t Ulysses S . Grant appointed
him S e c r e t a r y of the Treasury.
While a t t h e Treasury Department, Boutwell advocated r e s t o r i n g
f a i t h i n t h e f e d e r a l government by reducing t h e huge n a t i o n a l debt
caused by t h e C i v i l War. On March 18, 1869, Congress passed a t
B o u t w e l l ' s encouragement " An A c t t o S t r e n g t h e n the Public C r e d i t . "
The p l a n c a l l e d f o r r e p l a c i n g the n a t i o n a l debt with bonds a t
smaller i n t e r e s t r a t e s . The government would sell $ 2- 8 m i l l i o n
i n g o l d , buy bonds with t h e p r o c e e d s , and pay o f f t h e d e b t with
the bonds. A t t h e t i m e t h e b i l l was e n a c t e d , f i n a n c i e r s Jay Gould
and James F i s k were c o n s p i r i n g t o c o r n e r t h e gold market and
wanted t h e s a l e of government gold t o s t o p . On September 23, 1869,
Gould suddenly q u i t buying gold but Fisk continued. The p r i c e of
gold r o s e a s the s u p p l y d r o p p e d . On September 2 4 , however, the
government o r d e r e d another s a l e of g o l d , r e s u l t i n g i n a drop i n
gold p r i c e s and huge l o s s e s f o r F i s k and o t h e r gold s p e c u l a t o r s .
Boutwell r e s i g n e d i n March 187.3 from t h e Treasury Department when
appointed s e n a t o r f r o m M a s s a c h u s e t t s to f i l l the vacancy caused
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