Sam Upham

[Pollaco]

There was a Samuel C. Upham listed as the Master's Mate on U.S.S.Princeton in early 1844.He was transferred to that ship in January 1844 from the U.S.brig Truxton. Most are familiar with the explosion of the cannon , Peacemaker, and the killing and wounding of the dignitaries there for a demonstration in February 1844.Was Upham on board during the incident and is this Upham the same Samuel Curtis Upham who printed "souvenir" Confederate money later during the war?

 

[ErnieMac]

There was a Samuel C. Upham listed as the Master's Mate on U.S.S.Princeton in early 1844.He was transferred to that ship in January 1844 from the U.S.brig Truxton. Most are familiar with the explosion of the cannon , Peacemaker, and the killing and wounding of the dignitaries there for a demonstration in February 1844.Was Upham on board during the incident and is this Upham the same Samuel Curtis Upham who printed "souvenir" Confederate money later during the war?

It appears it is the same man. I've attached a link to a brief biography. While the bio does not mention the Princeton it does state he enrolled in the U.S. Navy in 1842 and rose to the rank of Master's Mate.

"King of the Confederate Counterfeit" by Priscilla Rhoades

Edit to correct date.

 

[major bill]

The printing of the souvenir Confederate money was an interesting operation.

 

[Pollaco]

The printing of the souvenir Confederate money was an interesting operation.

Souvenir printer is an interesting title but it appears that he was really a counterfeiter.The U.S.government just chose to "look the other way".

 

[Bur Oak]

He started with poor quality souvenirs and only later produced true counterfeits. No single label tells the whole story.

Interesting thing on the linked site. Near the bottom is an image of "An original Confederate bill" "And Upham's counterfeit." Actually, BOTH notes are Upham's. No genuine note appears on the site.

This is what the genuine note of that type looks like.

 

[Pollaco]

His business of "souvenir money" seems to have petered out in mid 1863. Wrong term maybe but he did get out of the souvenir
business sort of abruptly it seems. Any reason why his went out of business?Was the fad of owning "Rebel money" over? Real C.S. money was next to worthless? The competition?

 

[Bur Oak]

His business of "souvenir money" seems to have petered out in mid 1863. Wrong term maybe but he did get out of the souvenir
business sort of abruptly it seems. Any reason why his went out of business?Was the fad of owning "Rebel money" over? Real C.S. money was next to worthless? The competition?

Judging by what Tremmel writes, the market for his stuff dwindled. Competition may have been partly to blame. Bear in mind also, the Confederacy was trying to replace most of the earlier issues in circulation which meant new designs. Anyone attempting to pass his older notes as real would probably have had increasing difficulty. Counterfeiters would have to come up with new plates, and with standardized designs in circulation in the South, these would probably have to be pretty darn good for their work to have a chance. Upham may just have decided that it wasn't worth the effort anymore.

 

[Pollaco]

What do think about the possibility of him being supplied with confiscated quality paper? And by the likes of Edwin Stanton and Lafayette Baker. Just another legend or story? I personally haven't seen any of those "quality" notes, they look rather crude to me.

 

[Bur Oak]

What do think about the possibility of him being supplied with confiscated quality paper? And by the likes of Edwin Stanton and Lafayette Baker. Just another legend or story? I personally haven't seen any of those "quality" notes, they look rather crude to me.

Judging by the damage usually seen on "circulated" examples of the souvenir type notes, it seems that most if not all of these were printed on inferior paper. He is credited with some arguably better notes, like a variety of CT16 and CT25 which were printed on better papers. There are also CT20, CT37, CT39, CT42 , and CT44 (and a suspected CT45) that may have used a better paper than the souvenirs. It should be noted that many of the genuine notes of these latter types were printed on a more mediocre stock than many of the others.

As to where he may have gotten higher quality paper, I have not read anything definitive. Could it have been confiscated English paper, or something one of the Northern print shops had in stock? Barring documentation, it may be anyone's guess.

 

[R. Porter]

Well, this seems an interesting case. Upham had a notice on the face of the bill indicating it was a copy and initially did not print on the correct type of paper. Then there's the question of how you would prosecute. Did the U.S. Code or the Pennsylvania State Code indicate requirements that must be followed when printing copies of another nation's money as souvenirs? If "no" then you couldn't bring a case against Upham, unless the prosecutors wanted to claim that the Confederate States were not another nation. It seems unlikely that anyone in the Confederate States' government would testify that the Confederacy was not independent of the United States. Since Upham was printing Confederate currency and not state currency it would have to be proved legally that the Confederacy was still part of the United States.

If it was established that the Confederacy was still part of the United States, did the U.S. Code or the Pennsylvania State Code indicate requirements for printing the currency of another state or group of states as souvenirs? If "no" then you do not have a case. If "yes" then it seems the most you could charge Upham with was wrongful labeling of souvenirs.

Chances are the war would be over before you could establish whether or not the Confederate States were indeed a separate country. If the Confederacy was established as separate, there would be a whole lot more serious legal issues to deal with than whether or not Upham was a counterfeiter.

 

[Pollaco]

His first 3,000 copies were on "French letter paper" whatever that is?

 

[Pollaco]

To get back to the original question of this thread, Was Upham an eye witness onboard the U.S.S. Princeton the day of the explosion? I think the incident happened on February 28, 1844.