George S. Boutwell (1818-1905) had spent a long career in public service, including tours of duty as the first Commissioner of Internal Revenue (1862-1863) and as a Congressman (1863-1869), before being appointed by President Ulysses S. Grant as Secretary of the Treasury in 1869. His chief objectives as Secretary were to improve the organization of the Department and to continue reducing the national debt. Boutwell set up a system for the manufacture of money which made it easier to detect counterfeit currency and he reorganized the Mint, which became part of the Treasury Department in 1873 after seventy-four years as an independent agency. He also instituted an efficient system of bookkeeping and accounting for the customs houses.
Shortly after his appointment, Boutwell had to rise to the challenge of the infamous "Black Friday", September 23, 1869, when speculators on Wall Street tried to corner the gold market. He successfully blocked their scheme by releasing great quantities of Treasury gold and thereby flooding the market. Boutwell left Treasury in 1873 to return to the Senate.
- Text Courtesy of the Office
of the Curator
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