In contrast to the aforementioned tokens, No. 6 and No. 7 are historical
medals in the specific meaning of this term. No description or mention
of either of them have come to this writer’s attention.
The medal No. 6 measures forty-four millimetres in diameter and was
struck in silver, bronze, and white metal. The American Numismatic
Society has a specimen of each type in its collection. The obverse shows
the “Old Sugar House, Rose Street, N. Y.,” a large five-story building,
of which the front and side are visible. The space between the third and
fourth story of the front is occupied by the number 1763, the year of
its foundation, as the legend says. The space between the uppermost
window on the gable front and the two lower windows has as inscription
these letters: BRS. All windows are grated. Above the representation of
the building one reads the following half-circular inscription: OLD
SUGAR HOUSE ROSE ST. N. Y. Below, there appears this inscription:
FOUNDED 1763 DEMOLISHED 1892. On the reverse the half-circular legend, A
BRITISH PRISON, is placed above a small representation of the frontside
of the gable. The latter shows the uppermost window in the highest
corner, and underneath two more grated windows in a row. Above the left
window the initial I, above the right one the initial S are visible. The
lower part of the reverse is occupied by a key in horizontal situation
being the ill-famed prison-key, underneath shackles are placed. The
ornamental arrangement is in symmetrical correspondence with that in the
upper part. In the middle of the space one reads in two lines: DURING
THE/ REVOLUTION.
[Illustration: No. 6
Old Sugar House, Rose Street, New York]
The “Old Sugar House Rose Street, N. Y.,” which stood on the corner of
Rose and Deane Streets in New York City, was erected by Henry Cuyler,
Jr., for his heir, Barnet Rynders Cuyler, probably in 1763. This date,
which appears on the medal twice, is based on an authority “who had
opportunity to observe.” John Austin Stevens stated from personal
recollection “that he saw the date 1769 high upon the brick wall in iron
figures.” The good engraving which is reproduced in James G. Wilson’s
_Memorial History of the City of New York_ and may well have been the
model for the engraver of the medal, shows the year 1767 on the wall of
the building. As disputed as the date of its erection is also its use as
prison during the Revolution. Wilson writes: “The date and the
architect’s initials are still to be seen on the side of the building,
worked in wrought-iron characters, quaint and old. The Rhinelander
family has owned the property since 1790, and much of the land around it
has been in their possession much longer than that. When first erected
the house was used as a sugar-house, but the great interest in the old
building is in the memory of the use to which it was put in
revolutionary times. The grated windows, the dungeon-like underground
cellars, the general air of solidity and impregnability which impress
the observer at first sight, bear out the assertion, which has become a
creed among the neighbors, that during the Revolution the sugar-house
was diverted from its legitimate use and turned into a British prison,
where many an American patriot suffered not only imprisonment, but
cruelties and starvation.” This was written by Wilson in 1892 in
commemoration of the then recent demolition of the structure. It seems
that it was the very same occasion that caused the issuance of the
medal, bearing the year of the building’s demolition. Nevertheless, the
use of the Rhinelander sugar-house as a prison during the Revolution was
“denied by Stevens and others, who have presented testimony to disprove
it,” as Stokes tells us. It seems almost impossible to decide the issue
which, in turn, renders the historical justification of the issuance of
the medal also doubtful.
[Illustration: No. 7
Libby Prison Medal
(Obverse)]
No. 7 is the only medal known to the author referring to a military
prison in the Civil War. No specimen of it is found in the museum of the
American Numismatic Society. Nor do the catalogues, guide-books, and
other pamphlets published by the Libby Prison War Museum Association in
Chicago mention this medal that was probably issued by this very
association. There is nothing about it in the files of the Chicago
Historical Society. The Chicago newspapers of 1893 might have some
article or note. But as they are not indexed it would take a great deal
of time and labor to search through them.
The very heavy medal measures seventy-one millimetres in diameter. It is
made of type metal, coated with a bluish-black lacquer. The obverse
shows in its upper part the following legend: LIBBY PRISON; and in the
lower part: WAR MUSEUM/ CHICAGO 1893. The space in the center is
occupied by the picture of Libby Prison as it stood in its original
place in Richmond, Virginia. Four prisoners’ tents are visible in the
foreground. Of course, no barbed wire, and not even a fence are
indicated. Instead sentries can be seen in front of the main building as
well as of the tent-barracks, their number being six _in toto_. The
picture is that well known from contemporary drawings or etchings.
[Illustration: No. 7
Libby Prison Medal
(Reverse)]
The reverse of the medal bears an extensive legend in eighteen lines.
These are surrounded by a circular panel, showing on top clasped hands,
at the bottom crossed sabres. The panel inscription reads: NO
SECTIONALISM—1861—NO NORTH—NO SOUTH—1865—NO ANIMOSITY. The eighteen-line
legend gives an historical account of Libby Prison and its
transformation into the Chicago War Museum:
1845
LIBBY PRISON RICHMOND, VA.
ERECTED IN 1845 BY LUTHER LIBBY.
OCCUPIED BY LIBBY AND SON, SHIPCHANDLERS AND GROCERS. IN 1861 TAKEN BY
THE CONFEDERATED AND CONVERTED INTO A PRISON. FROM 1861 TO 1864, 40,000
UNION PRISONERS WERE CONFINED IN IT. LARGEST NUMBER AT ONE TIME 1400.
FOR OFFICERS EXCLUSIVELY IN 1864-5. FEBRUARY 9 1864, 109 UNION OFFICERS
MADE THEIR ESCAPE BY THE CELEBRATED TUNNEL PLANNED BY COL. THOS. E.
ROSE. MOVED TO CHICAGO IN 1889, CONVERTED INTO A NATIONAL WAR MUSEUM
OWNED BY THE LIBBY PRISON WAR MUSEUM A’SSN.
C. F. GUNTHER. PRES;
L. MANASSE. VICE PRES;
C. E. KREMER. SEC. AND TREAS.
1893
The history of Libby Prison as sad as it is romantic is too well known
to be retold here even briefly. The New York Public Library has in its
Americana collection no less than 222 items on Civil War prisoners and
prisons. Many of them are devoted exclusively or partially to Libby
Prison. The selected bibliography appended to this article will guide
historically interested readers. With reference to the medal under
consideration it is surprising that the famous commander of the prison,
Major Thomas P. Turner, found no mention in its historical legend. He
“was always a gentleman,” as one of the former prisoners wrote in his
memoirs.
In view of the fact that the medal is dedicated to the Libby Prison War
Museum in Chicago, the history of the removal of the building from
Richmond may be of interest. The following quotation is an excerpt from
the pertinent introductory chapter in the now rare _Catalogue and
Program_ of the Libby Prison War Museum, first published probably in
1889 and later reprinted in the early eighteen-nineties:
“The removal of Libby Prison from Richmond, Va. to Chicago was a
project never before equaled in the history of building moving and one
that will not be surpassed for years to come. This famous old
structure as a Confederate prison is too well known to need the
repetition of its history, and it is enough to state that it was the
palace prison of the South, and during the late war it held more than
40,000 Union officers and enlisted men as prisoners. The project of
removing Libby Prison to Chicago was thought of by a well-known
Chicago business man who interested a syndicate of his business
associates, and as a result they visited Richmond in the latter part
of 1888 and took a thorough look over the ground.... Mr. Louis M.
Hallowell, a well-known and experienced Philadelphia architect, was
engaged to work on the spot. He made all of the working plans for
taking the structure apart, shipping it to the cars and rebuilding it
in Chicago. The work commenced in December, 1888, and as the building
was taken apart each board, beam, timber and block of stone was
numbered and lettered in such a manner that there was not the least
trouble about placing these parts correctly together again in
rebuilding.... Sending to Chicago required 132 twenty-ton cars ... the
re-erection of Libby Prison ... was completed early in September. The
Museum was opened to the public September 21, 1889.... It contains the
most complete and valuable collections of Confederate relics in
existence.”
The museum was situated on Wabash Avenue between 14th and 16th Streets.
The enterprise proved a failure, however. The Libby Prison War Museum
was torn down in 1899, according to information received from the
Chicago Historical Society. The Coliseum was erected on the site. The
prison wall on the Wabash Avenue is now incorporated in the facade of
the Coliseum, all other material used having been disposed of.
The officers of the Libby Prison War Museum Association whose names
appear on the medal, are identifiable from their advertisements on the
covers of the _Catalogue_. The President, C. J. Gunther, was a
confectioner who advertised his candies; the Vice President, L. Manasse,
an optician; and the secretary-treasurer was a member of the law firm,
Schuyler and Kremer, “attorneys at law and proctors in Admiralty.”
One would expect to learn that the medal was struck on some occasion
connected with the Libby Prison War Museum, either on the completion of
its rebuilding in Chicago or on its opening. This was, however, not the
case. There is no other indication as to when the medal was executed
except the year 1893 appearing on its reverse. It proves that the medal
must have been struck in connection with the Columbian Exposition held
in that year in Chicago. This is all that could be explored of its
history.
Finally a token should be mentioned that refers to Civil War prisons,
though indirectly only. It is representative of a whole group of similar
tokens. In 1864-1865 a special committee of the United States Sanitary
Commission published the gruesome results of an inquiry into the
privations and sufferings of United States officers and soldiers during
their war imprisonment. It aroused, of course, the public at that time.
The United States Sanitary Commission, established in 1861, to cooperate
with the army, arranged a series of great fairs, popularly termed
“Sanitary Fairs,” in order to raise funds for the relief of sickness,
the improvement of hospital sanitation, and the promotion of the health
conditions among the armed forces in general. The Commission distributed
during the war supplies to the value of fifteen million dollars, and
funds amounting to five million more were received into its treasury, at
least two-thirds of which were obtained from the numerous “Sanitary
Fairs.” The first was held at Chicago in 1863, and many other cities
followed.
Tokens of the kind of that pictured here as No. 8 were given to the
“cheerful givers.” The obverse of No. 8 shows Washington’s head facing
the right, at each side four stars, the legend being: GEO. WASHINGTON /
PRESIDENT. The reverse has the following inscription in nine lines, the
first three and last one curved: GOD LOVETH A CHEERFUL GIVER / GREAT
FAIR / IN AID OF THE / U. S. / SANITARY / COMMISSION / NANTUCKET / MASS.
/ AUGUST 1864. The size is twenty-four millimeters. Specimens were
struck in silver, copper, brass, nickel, and tin.
[Illustration: No. 8
“Sanitary Fair” Token]
To be sure, the present essay represents but a very modest contribution
to the discipline of medallic history. If through the methodological
approach of a specific problem it would aid in stimulating further
research in this little cultivated field, the author would consider this
a highly gratifying reward.