Evans and Cogswell Printing Plant.

Robert Gray

Sergeant Major
Joined
Jul 24, 2012
Harvey Cogswell and his brother-in-law, Benjamin F. Evans, organized and operated the printing firm of Evans & Cogswell in Charleston (SC).
In the days leading up to secession, the Evans & Cogswell Printing Company was retained as printers to the Secession Convention, and daily printed the minutes of the Convention. The Ordinance of Secession, one of the most fateful documents in America's history, was lithographed by Evans & Cogswell.
During the Civil War, Evans & Cogswell printed small denomination Confederate currency, Government bonds, the Soldier's Prayer Book, books on war tactics, stamps, and medical books.
Their company had been established in Charleston, but was moved to Columbia (SC) in 1864 for protection from invading Union forces under General William T. Sherman.
Subsequently, Columbia, and the Evans & Cogswell printing plant there, were extensively damaged by fire in February 1865 during the course of General Sherman's march northward through South Carolina.
Because of this devastating loss, the company went into bankruptcy, but was reorganized in 1866 with the addition of C. Irvin Walker, a distinguished Confederate veteran, and the company was renamed Walker, Evans & Cogswell.
Harvey Cogswell's rebuilt Columbia printing plant was listed Number One among "South Carolina's 11 most endangered sites" by The Palmetto Trust for Historic Preservation.
From an article by Ron Cogswell.
West Virginia Wesleyon College Library, Rare Book Collection.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

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There's a thread on what topic needs to be expanded from the war. These photographic investigations would be one- story behind what would otherwise be just one, more ruin brings it home incredibly well. There's an excellent book.

Thanks for posting, and the work.
 
The firm was originally started as a book binding business in Charleston in 1821 by the Walker family. John C Walker and Benjamin F Evans formed a partnership in 1852. It became Walker, Evans & Cogswell when Harvey Cogswell joined in 1855. After John C Walker died in 1860, Evans and Cogswell continued the firm and changed the name to Evans & Cogswell.
Source: Rice, James Henry. 100 years of WECCO: a history of the Walker, Evans & Cogswell Company manufacturing stationers, 1821-1921. Charleston, SC: Walker, Evans & Cogswell, 1921.
 
Evans & Cogswell did not move their operations to Columbia “for protection from invading Union forces under General William T. Sherman.”
At the request of CSA Treasury Secretary, Christopher Meminger, Evans & Cogswell opened a branch plant on Main Street in Columbia in late 1862/early 1863 to print treasury notes. When Evans & Cogswell moved the rest of their business to Columbia in February 1864, Sherman was still in Mississippi and had not yet been named commander of the western armies. Evans & Cogswell left Charleston to escape the bombardment of that city which started in August 1863, intensified in November, and continued for the rest of the war. Under the command of General Quincy Gillmore, Union artillery batteries on Morris Island rained shells down on all parts of Charleston south of Calhoun Street. When the State Bank building next door to Evans & Cogswell was hit, the printing firm decided Charleston was no longer safe and that they should move all their operations to Columbia. That is when they built the building on Gervais Street, the ruins of which are shown in the photo above. That building housed a plant for their general printing business while they continued to print currency for the Treasury Note Bureau from the Main Street plant. Both of their Columbia facilities were destroyed by fire during the city's occupation by Sherman’s troops in Feb 1865.
 
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Evans & Cogswell did not move their operations to Columbia “for protection from invading Union forces under General William T. Sherman.”
At the request of CSA Treasury Secretary, Christopher Meminger, Evans & Cogswell opened a branch plant on Main Street in Columbia in late 1862/early 1863 to print treasury notes. When Evans & Cogswell moved the rest of their business to Columbia in February 1864, Sherman was still in Mississippi and had not yet been named commander of the western armies. Evans & Cogswell left Charleston to escape the bombardment of that city which started in August 1863, intensified in November, and continued for the rest of the war. Under the command of General Quincy Gillmore, Union artillery batteries on Morris Island rained shells down on all parts of Charleston south of Calhoun Street. When the State Bank building next door to Evans & Cogswell was hit, the printing firm decided Charleston was no longer safe and that they should move all their operations to Columbia. That is when they built the building on Gervais Street, the ruins of which are shown in the photo above. That building housed a plant for their general printing business while they continued to print currency for the Treasury Note Bureau from the Main Street plant. Both of their Columbia facilities were destroyed by fire during the city's occupation by Sherman’s troops in Feb 1865.
Thank you. I recently read about this correction in another post re the history of Columbia. Many photos are incorrectly identified and it is always good to uncover the error and get things straight.
 
Where did they get that much paper and ink? I was doing some reading and just the treasury notes alone were something like a little over 16,000,000 printings in the last year of the war. But of course that's not just Evans + Cogswell. It also includes the other printing firms.
 
I can't help but notice that the $1.00 bill with Senator Clay's likeness shows it was engraved by the firm of Keatinge + Ball. True this firm did print most of the currency for the Confederacy but some of the lower denominations such as the $1.00, $2.00 $5.00 and the $10.00 were subcontracted to Evans + Cogswell.
 
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I can't help but notice that the $1.00 bill with Senator Clay's likeness shows it was engraved by the firm of Keatinge + Ball. True this firm did print most of the currency for the Confederacy but some of the lower denominations such as the $1.00, $2.00 $5.00 and the $10.00 were subcontracted to Evans + Cogswell.
See my blog article about Confederate Currency Printers in Columbia, SC. There were four printing firms that printed Confederate treasury notes in Columbia. They were Keatinge & Ball, Blanton Duncan, James T Paterson, and Evans & Cogswell. Due to Edward Keatinge’s superior engraving work and a need for consistency, Treasury Secretary Memminger chose Keatinge & Ball as the sole engraving firm for Confederate Treasury notes. The other firms had to use Keatinge's plates. You can see on the $1 note above that it was engraved by Keatinge & Ball and lithographed by Evans & Cogswell.
 
Presently reading a book about Southern Currency. In it is a brief article about Evans and Cogswell. It states the firm continued for over a decade after the Civil War. This was after the firm became Walker, Evans and Gogswell. But it was one of the few that wasn't ruined by the War.
 
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