Edward C. Elmore
Treasurer of the Confederate States of America
In office
March 6, 1861 – July 18, 1864
PresidentJefferson Davis
Succeeded byGeorge Trenholm
Personal details
Bornc. 1826
DiedNovember 13, 1873
Pensacola, Florida, US
Cause of deathYellow fever
Alma materSouth Carolina College
Known forTreasurer of the Confederate States, Confederate duellist

Edward Carrington Elmore (c. 1826 – 1873) was an American politician. He served as the Treasurer of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. His signature appears on collectible Confederate currency, and he designed several of the Confederacy's coins.

Biography

CSA first issue (1861) $100 signed by Elmore as Treasurer.

Elmore was a well-educated native of Columbia, South Carolina. Some accounts have him a native of Alabama; he was related to Judge John A. Elmore, who had been law partners with William Lowndes Yancey, and he "was related to leading families in Alabama and South Carolina."[1] American Revolutionary War General John Archer Elmore was his grandfather.[2] He received his education at South Carolina College. He became a prominent banker and married the daughter of a prominent family, Caroline Elizabeth Sims, on April 7, 1852.[3] Shortly before the outbreak of the Civil War, he moved to Montgomery, Alabama.[4]

Shortly after the creation of the Confederacy, President Jefferson Davis recommended Elmore as its first treasurer, a decision endorsed by the Confederate States Secretary of the Treasury Christopher Memminger and ratified by the Provisional Confederate Congress. He took office on March 6, 1861. In his official capacity, Elmore had to receive, count, keep, and disburse government funds in cooperation with the Congress and other agencies. All requisitions drawn upon the national treasury had first to pass Elmore's inspection before they could assume the form of executive warrants. Even a warrant approved by the Comptroller and sanctioned by Memminger was subject to Elmore's review before being paid.[4]

Memminger resigned his post as Secretary of the Treasury on July 18, 1864, and was replaced by fellow South Carolinian George Trenholm. However, Elmore initially stayed on as Treasurer under Trenholm.

In August 1864, Elmore accused John Moncure Daniel, the controversial editor of the Richmond Examiner, of slandering him by accusing Elmore and Secretary of State Judah P. Benjamin of gambling away government funds at a private club. When no retraction was forthcoming from the newspaperman, Elmore demanded a duel. The two opponents met on Belle Isle, and Elmore wounded Daniels with his first shot.[5] One sympathetic former soldier later wrote, "The result of this duel occasioned as many hearty congratulations among the true Confederates in Richmond as if it had been the announcement of a victory by General Lee over the Federal army."[4][6]

Shortly afterward, Elmore resigned his position as Treasurer and was replaced by John N. Hendren on October 10, 1864.

Elmore died of yellow fever at Pensacola, Florida on November 13, 1873,[7][8] in an outbreak that killed a total of 62 people in the city that year.[9]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Montgomery, Ala ]Alabama State Dept of Archives and History (1930). The Alabama historical quarterly. George A. Smathers Libraries University of Florida. [Montgomery, Ala.] Alabama State Dept. of Archives and History. p. 48.
  2. ↑ "The Wetumpka Herald 01 Jul 1948, page 25". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2023-09-07.
  3. ↑ "Family Tree Maker". Archived from the original on 2011-06-06. Retrieved 2008-10-08.
  4. 1 2 3 Cunningham, Sumner A., Confederate Veteran, Confederate Southern Memorial Association, Sons of Confederate Veterans, 1916. pp.150-51.
  5. ↑ [Washington, D.C.] "Daily National Republican", August 16, 1864, p. 1, col 7; [Washington, D.C. "Evening Star", August 27, 1864, p. 4, col. 1
  6. ↑ National Tribune, December 29, 1891. Retrieved 2008-10-07. Daniels was as much depised by the Union prisoners of war held in Richmond as he was by the Confederate soldiers and government officials. One Yankee deemed him "this beast of an editor." The much depised Daniels survived his duel with Elmore, as well as those with nine other men, only to die of natural causes in late March 1865 just before Richmond fell to the Union army.
  7. ↑ "Ex-Yongesboro Resident Recalls Childhood Memories of Place". The Opelika-Auburn News. 1955-06-01. p. 2. Retrieved 2023-09-07.
  8. ↑ "Death of Major E. C. Elmore". The Montgomery Advertiser. 1873-11-20. p. 3. Retrieved 2023-09-07.
  9. ↑ Pearce, George F. (1977) "Torment of Pestilence: Yellow Fever Epidemics in Pensacola," Florida Historical Quarterly: Vol. 56 : No. 4 , Article 5. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/fhq/vol56/iss4/5
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