Francis E. Spinner

His father was John Peter Spinner (born in Werbach, Baden, January 18, 1768; died in German Flatts, NY, May 27, 1848), a Catholic priest who became a Protestant, married Mary Magdalene Fidelis Brument,[1] emigrated to the United States in 1801, and was pastor of two German-speaking Dutch Reformed churches,[2] at Herkimer and German Flatts until his death.

Francis Spinner was the eldest of nine children, six sons and three daughters. His father instructed him in languages, and in the common schools of Herkimer County he learned English grammar, reading, writing and arithmetic. His father required Spinner to learn a trade. Francis elected to become a merchant, and for about a year was employed as a clerk in a store. The store failed, and Francis was apprenticed to a confectioner in Albany.[3]

In Albany, Spinner made the acquaintance of some educated men who took an interest in his welfare. Peter Gansevoort allowed him the use of his library. Two years after his arrival, when his father found he was being employed as a salesman and bookkeeper, Spinner was removed from that situation and apprenticed to a saddle and harness maker in Amsterdam, New York. Here Spinner became a shareholder in the circulating library, and studied its volumes when he wasn't busy learning his trade.[3]

In 1824, Spinner moved back to Herkimer County, where he engaged in mercantile pursuits. In 1826, he married Caroline Caswell of Herkimer.[1] He entered the state militia, and by 1834 had risen to the rank of major general. He was appointed deputy sheriff in 1829, and was sheriff of the County from 1834 to 1837. He was appointed one of the commissioners for the construction of the state lunatic asylum at Utica, New York in 1838. When he was removed from this post on political grounds, he engaged in banking, first as cashier and later as president, at the Mohawk Bank.

He was state inspector of turnpikes, and served as commissioner and supervisor of schools. He was appointed auditor and deputy naval officer in charge of the Port of New York in 1845 and served four years.

Treasurer

Fifty-cent Fractional Currency depicting Spinner, with autograph signature.

On the recommendation of Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase, he was appointed by President Lincoln as Treasurer of the United States and served from March 16, 1861, until his resignation on July 1, 1875. Within 60 days of his assuming office, the expenditures of the federal government increased dramatically.[1]

He was the first to suggest the employment of women in government offices. During the Civil War, many of the clerks of the Treasury Department joined the army, and Spinner suggested to Secretary Chase the advisability of employing women. After much persuasion,[4] his suggestion was taken up, and he carried it into effect successfully, though not without much opposition. The women were first employed to count money, and later took up various clerical duties.[1] He eventually hired over 100 women, paid them well, and retained them after the war was over.[2]

Spinner's signature on an 1862 issue United States Note.

He signed the different series of paper money in a singular handwriting, which he cultivated in order to prevent counterfeiting. His signature on the "greenbacks" of the United States was the most familiar autograph in the country. The history Spinner gave of his signature was:

I first practiced it while in the sheriff's office about 1835; I used it while commissioner for building the asylum at Utica, and as cashier and president of the Mohawk valley bank, and for franking while in congress. It was brought to its highest perfection when I was treasurer.[5]

He resigned his office because of a disagreement over staffing appointments. A new Secretary refused to give him final say over his staff. Spinner thought that, as a bonded officer, he should have control over the appointment of clerks for whose acts he was responsible.[6] When he resigned his office, the money in the treasury was counted. The result showed a very small discrepancy, and many days were spent in recounting and examining the books of accounts, until finally the mistake was discovered.

In 1875, he ran on the Republican ticket for New York State Comptroller but was defeated by Democrat Lucius Robinson. He moved south, and for some years he lived in camp at Pablo Beach, Florida, where he lived a vigorous outdoor life,[2] and also took up the study of Greek.[5] He was survived by one of his three daughters.[5]

Francis E. Spinner (1894, installed 1909) by Henry Jackson Ellicott. The base prominently features Spinner's signature.

Spinner was buried at the Mohawk Cemetery, in Mohawk, New York.

Following Spinner's death, sculptor Henry Jackson Ellicott was commissioned to create a bronze statue of him.[7] A group of women who worked in the Treasury Department contributed $10,000 toward the monument's $20,000 cost.[4] It was completed in 1894, but never installed in front of the U.S. Treasury Building in Washington, D.C.[7] Following years in storage, the Herkimer chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution petitioned for the statue to be transferred to his home town.[7] On June 29, 1909, the bronze statue was unveiled "with impressive ceremonies" in Herkimer's Myers Park.[8] "[S]aid to be a very good likeness," the 7.5 ft (2.3 m) "splendid piece of bronze"[8] faces Spinner's birthplace.[9] The statue's base bears a likeness of his famous signature, which was then well-known from its appearance on U.S. Treasury notes. The inscription reads:

The fact that I was instrumental in introducing women to employment in the offices of the government gives me more real satisfaction than all the other deeds of my life.

• United States Congress. "Francis E. Spinner (id: S000737)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Wilson, J. G.; Fiske, J., eds. (1900). "Spinner, Francis Elias" . Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: D. Appleton.
• This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Rines, George Edwin, ed. (1920). "Spinner, Francis Elias" . Encyclopedia Americana.
• Gilman, D. C.; Peck, H. T.; Colby, F. M., eds. (1905). "Spinner, Francis Elias" . New International Encyclopedia (1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead.

• Francis E. Spinner at Find a Grave