5 Things You Didn’t Know About Salmon Chase

[thedeadpoint]

I certainly didn't know some of this stuff! http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/56317

 

Here are some... money... quotes

 

Salmon P. Chase may not be history’s most familiar name, but the former Senator who also served as Abraham Lincoln’s Secretary of the Treasury and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court made quite a mark on American politics. Here are five things you may not know about Chase:

 

1. He’s Probably In Your Wallet

 

If you’re lucky enough to have a $10,000 bill tucked away in your hip pocket, you’ve seen Chase’s face. His portrait appears on the obverse of the giant bill. When the Treasury started issuing the bills in 1928, it chose to honor Chase for his crucial role in helping to popularize modern banknotes.Of course, Chase’s role in the introduction of these banknotes wasn’t entirely altruistic. As Secretary of the Treasury, Chase was in charge of introducing and popularizing the first issue of greenback bank notes in 1861. Chase was politically ambitious, so he chose to festoon the $1 bill with an image of a great American hero—Salmon P. Chase. Whatever his motivations, though, Chase did manage to get Americans to make the switch to paper money. Chase’s name might appear in another place in your wallet. Although he didn’t found the institution himself, Chase National Bank was named in his honor. Over the years the bank has morphed into JPMorganChase, so Chase’s name might be printed on one of your credit cards.

 

 

2. He Had an Ear for Slogans

 

Ever wonder how “In God We Trust” ended up on our currency? Give Chase the credit. People naturally became a bit more conscious of religion during the Civil War, and by the end of 1861 they were inundating Secretary of the Treasury Chase to put some sort of acknowledgment of God on American currency. Chase apparently felt adding a religious note to our cash was a good call, so he instructed the director of the Philadelphia Mint to come up with “a motto expressing in the fewest and tersest words possible this national recognition.” The Mint’s staff suggested “Our Country, Our God” or “God, Our Trust.” Chase liked these ideas, but he changed one of them to “In God We Trust.” Congress approved the change in 1864, and “In God We Trust” has appeared intermittently on coins ever since.

[Saor Alba]

He also had a daughter, Kate Chase Sprague, who was one of the most prominent socialites during the Civil War. Her looks were said to be favourable, and she would marry a man who would become a senator, but in the 1880s she had an affair with another senator Roscoe Conkling and her marriage dissolved. She was quite the third quarter of the 19th century scandal.

[ccg]

neat

[hiho]

Chase’s first wife died just two years into their marriage, and the couple’s daughter died before she turned five. Chase remarried in 1839, but with similarly grim results. His wife and two of his three daughters soon died. He took a third bride in 1846, but she died just six years later, as did one of their two daughters.

 

This may have had something to do with his utter lack of a sense of humor. Perhaps they were all bored to death.

[Saor Alba]

Kate Sprague would have appeared to have filled a lot of those gaps in his life. Had he been elected to the presidency, an office he aspired to dearly, she would have served as first lady. It is also known that she had some sway with Lincoln in policy. Her character is touched on in "Team of Rivals", but there are more references to her in 19th century writings. Indeed her character was much more fascinating what with her scandals, marriage to William Sprague and his millions to pump into daddy's war chest for the presidential run, then of course her little dalliance with Senator Roscoe Conkling.