The Blue Ridge Railroad Company Gold Bond

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The Blue Ridge Railroad Company Gold Bond - Signed by Henry Clews - 1869

The Blue Ridge Railroad Company Gold Bond - Signed by Henry Clews

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Our Price: $248.00

Product Code: SC720-2

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This Blue Ridge Railroad Company Gold Bond Certificate was issued in 1869 and is hand-signed by Henry Clews. This Blue Ridge Railroad Company Bond was for $1000 Gold Coin in the U.S. or 200 Pounds British Sterling in Britain. Henry Clews signed as Trustee of the City of New York on the reverse.

Henry Clews started his firm Henry Clews & Co in 1877 and was a member of the New York Stock Exchange. Clews would become very successful and wealthy. He was friends with Abraham Lincoln and a consultant to President Ulysses S. Grant. He would go on to write the Wall Street Classic, Twenty- Eight Years in Wall Street and later Fifty Years in Wall Street (highly collectible book). Fifty Years was an inside look and first hand account of the wild life on Wall Street during that era from speculation to rampant corruption.

Clews was also the organizer of the "Committee of 70" which brought down corrupt politician William Tweed. Tweed was one of the richest men in the United States in the late 1800s and it was believed he embezzled between $25 and $200 million from NY taxpayers. Clews' Committee brought down Tweed and he was jailed. He once escaped and was recaptured. Tweed ultimately died jail.

The Blue Ridge Railroad was incorporated in 1849 to provide state-financed crossing of the Blue Ridge Mounts for the Virginia Central Railroad.

Condition: As pictured: Has folds and wrinkles. Significant edge wear some tearing. Tape on the back over the cancel punches. Priced accordingly.