Christopher Memminger
Christopher Gustavus Memminger (* 7 or January 9, 1803 in Vaihingen an der Enz, Wurttemberg, Germany, † March 7, 1888 in Charleston, South Carolina) was Confederate officer and politician.
Background and Career
He was the son of Christopher Gottfried and Eberhardina ( Kohler) Memminger and came as a child in the United States. His father was an officer in the Württemberg army and fell in battle, just a month after his birth. His mother died after immigrating to the United States when he was (1807 ) four, and left him in an orphanage in Charleston, South Carolina. At the age of eleven years (1814 ) he was adopted by the later Governor of South Carolina ( 1820-1822 ) Thomas Bennett. His social status and his views were largely shaped by his adoptive family, and so he justified slavery. He graduated second in his class in 1819 at South Carolina College and in 1824 was admitted to the bar. In the same year he became an American citizen. In 1832 he married Mary Wilkinson. From this marriage eight children were born. After her death he married in 1878 her sister Sarah A. Wilkinson. He became a successful lawyer in Charleston, SC and helped the city to develop the most comprehensive system for public schools in the country.
Political career
As an opponent of nullification Memminger was elected from 1836-1852 and from 1854-1860 in the lower house of the Parliament of South Carolina. For twenty years he was chairman of the Committee on ways and means in this house. In 1855 he served on the committee for a free school in Charleston. He was in 1852 a Unionist delegate to the Assembly for Southern rights. After 1860, he served as an emissary of South Carolina, who was trying to move to the Virginia secession, he was a delegate to the Secession Assembly of South Carolina, where he advocated the secession.
Art Nouveau period
Memminger was elected to the Provisional Confederate Congress, where he for Economic Affairs and as Chairman of the Committee sat in the committee to draft the provisional constitution. Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America ( CSA), appointed him at the suggestion of Robert Woodward Barnwell on February 25, 1861 Finance Minister, a post he retained until June 15, 1864, when he resigned because he no looked way to solve the Confederate financial problems. Its sober way offended many politicians, but his relationship with the President was excellent. He was aware of the need to consolidate the finances. But the attempt to reduce inflation by borrowing, dwindling resources, the confiscation of gold of the U.S. Mint in New Orleans, Louisiana, and worthless securities was unsuccessful. The limited assistance by the Congress of the CSA failed his tax plans. Trying to sell bonds abroad, failed due to the demands of the Confederate military. After his resignation, he returned to North Carolina and made henceforth no other services for the Confederates more.
Post-war period
In 1867 he reached a pardon and returned to his law practice in Charleston, SC. In 1868 he founded a company that produced sulfuric acid. He also continued to develop the public school system. He died in Charleston, SC, on March 7, 1888, was in the cemetery of St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church of the first mission (St. John's of the Wilderness First Mission of the Episcopal Church ) buried.