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CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION: THE MAKING OF MODERN AMERICA
Series One: The Papers of Jay Cooke (1821-1905) from the Historical Society of Pennsylvania
Part 1: General Correspondence, 1843 - April 1865
Part 2: General Correspondence, May 1865 - December 1867
Part 3: General Correspondence, January 1868 - April 1870
Part 4: General Correspondence, May 1870 - December 1871
Part 5: General Correspondence, January 1872 - June 1874 & n.d.
Chronology; Personal, Bamking, Railroads, Civil War & Reconstruction 1843-1875
1843
March
- Appointment of John C. Spencer as Secretary of the Treasury
1844
May
- Samuel F.B. Morse sends first message by telegraph between Baltimore and Washington, D.C.
July
- Appointment of George Bibb as Secretary of the Treasury.
August
- Jay Cooke marries Elizabeth Dorothea Allen.
1845
March
- Appointment of Robert J. Walker as Secretary of the Treasury.
August
- Irish Potato famine, 1.3 million Irish emigrate to United States of America.
1846
May
- At President Polk's request, Congress declares the U.S. at war with Mexico.
1847
December
- New congressman Abraham Lincoln makes a speech opposing the Mexican War.
1848
January
- Gold discovered in California.
1849
February
- First gold seekers arrive in San Francisco.
March
- Appointment of William M. Meredith as Secretary of the Treasury.
1850
July
- Vice President Millard Fillmore becomes president after Zachary Taylor dies on 9 July 1850.
- Appointment of Thomas Corwin as Secretary of the Treasury.
1851
July
- Sioux sign Treaty of Traverse des Sioux giving up land in Iowa and Minnesota.
1852
Nov
- Democrat Franklin Pierce, defeats General Winfield Scott for the presidency.
1853
March
- Appointment of James Guthrie as Secretary of the Treasury.
1854
1855
1856
1857
March
- Appointment of Howell Cobb as Secretary of the Treasury.
August
- Panic of 1857 begins when the New York branch of the Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Company fails,
preceding a number of other business failures.
1858
June
- Abraham Lincoln accepts the Republican nomination for US Senate.
1859
1860
Dec
- Appointment of Philip F. Thomas as Secretary of the Treasury.
1861
January
- Jay Cooke opens the private banking house of Jay Cooke & Company in Philadelphia.
- Appointment of John A. Dix as Secretary of the Treasury.
February
- Abraham Lincoln became President of the United States of America.
- The Confederate States of America was formed by seven southern States: South Carolina, Mississippi,
Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Texas and Louisiana.
March
- Appointment of Salmon P. Chase as Secretary of the Treasury.
April
- Start of American Civil War.
September
- Jay Cooke & Co. officially appointed subscription agent for Treasury and promotion of “7-30’s”
1862
February
- Jay Cooke & Co. open Washington DC house.
May
- Homestead Act was signed by President Lincoln.
July
- Congress passes Pacific Railway Act, authorizing construction of Transcontinental railroad. Act creates
Union Pacific Railroad Company.
- First journey of Washington and Georgetown Street Railroad Company, headed by Henry Cooke.
September
- General McClellan crosses the Potomac River.
October
- Jay Cooke appointed agent to sell “5-20’s”.
1863
June
- First National Bank of Philadelphia receives its charter.
July
- Battle of Gettysburg.
- First National Bank of Washington receives its charter.
December
- First national Bank note is issued.
1864
March
- Grant is promoted from commander of the Union forces in the west to commander of the Union armies.
July
- Appointment of William P. Fessenden as Secretary of the Treasury.
- Burning of Chambersburg.
December
- Death of Jay Cooke’s father.
1865
March
- Appointment of Hugh McCulloch as Secretary of the Treasury.
April
- Assassination of President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington by John Wilkes Booth.
- Civil War ends with the surrender of General Robert E. Lee.
- First National Bank failure.
- Fall of Richmond.
1866
January
- Jay Cooke & Co. open New York house.
1867
1868
April
- Sioux War ends with the Treaty of Fort Laramie.
1869
March
- Appointment of George S. Boutwell as Secretary of the Treasury.
April
- Ulysses S. Grant becomes president.
May
- Union Pacific and Central Pacific drive "Golden Spike" at Promontory Point, Utah, completing the
transcontinental railroad.
June
- Party of engineers and Jay Cooke’s representatives travel from the west cost to investigate route of
Northern Pacific Railroad.
September
- Jay Gould and James Fisk precipitate "Black Friday" gold market crash after driving gold to 162. Earlier
in the year, Jay Gould and Jay Fisk attempted to drive up the price of gold and corner the market. On
"Black Friday," President Grant releases $4 million and drives the price down, an action that causes a
stock-market panic.
1870
May
- Northern Pacific Bill passed and approved by Grant.
July
- Franco-Prussian War starts.
- Construction of the Northern Pacific Railroad begins.
1871
Jan
- Launch of National Pacific Bond Sales to General Public.
January
- Jay Cooke & Co opens a London house.
July
- Death of Jay Cooke’s Wife.
October
- Chicago is almost destroyed by fire. Known as the ‘Great Chicago Fire’.
1872
June
- The Republican party meets in Philadelphia and nominates Grant for re-election to the presidency.
September
- New York Sun begins exposing Credit Mobilier financing which culminates in huge railroad financing
scandal.
1873
February
- The House Committee investigating the Credit Mobilier Scandal finds Massachusetts Representative
Oakes Ames guilty of bribery and recommends his expulsion from Congress.
March
- Homesteaders willing to plant trees on their land are granted an additional quarter section (160 acres).
- Appointment of William A. Richardson as Secretary of the Treasury
September
- Jay Cooke & Co brokerage fails because of problems financing the Northern Pacific. Failure of Cooke
and 37 additional brokerages and banks precipitates the Financial Panic of 1873, this after years of
inflation, speculation and the overproduction of paper currency. New York Stock Exchange closed for 10
days. Five-year depression follows.
1874
June
- Appointment of Benjamin Bristow as Secretary of the Treasury.
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