Part 13

Close upon all this, that is to say, in June, 1834, came the celebrated reduction in the standards of our gold coin, one of the chief measures of the Jackson administration. This changed gold from a curiosity to a currency; bullion and foreign coin flowed to the mint, and accuracy of assay was more than ever needful. Mr. Eckfeldt was equal to the emergency, and resolutely introduced reforms, which, at first, made the older officers stand in doubt.

In those days, about the time the new mint edifice on Chestnut street was finishing, Mr. Peale was sent to London and Paris to observe the methods of assaying and refining, and to procure a new apparatus. We were thus supplied with French beams, weights, and cupel furnaces, and with the appliances of Gay-Lussac’s humid assay, and the printed details of the process. Soon after, Mr. Saxton, famous for his skill in constructing balances and other delicate instruments, returned from a long schooling in that line in London, and was employed in the Mint. Thus furnished, Mr. Eckfeldt felt himself “set up,” and able to compete with the foreign assayers, and if he was ever more precise, it was because he disregarded certain allowances which had become a time-honored custom.

A large importation of fine gold bars from France, known as the French Indemnity, and which came because President Jackson declared he “would submit to nothing that was wrong,” gave a fine opportunity for testing and comparing foreign assays; and it was generally found that these bars were somewhat below the alleged fineness. A still more important discovery, was the fact that British Sovereigns ran below their standard of fineness. This happened when he had been in office less than three years, and the Director was unwilling to set the finding of young Eckfeldt against the experience of Old England. The Assayer being assured and re-assured of the accuracy of his results, Director Moore consented to notify the British Government of their error. The result was a closer scrutiny in the London Mint, and a final acknowledgement that they were wrong. This was no less a triumph for Mr. Eckfeldt, than it was a contribution to exact science, and an honor to the American Government.

It is not surprising, that he felt at first the inconvenience of passing from one form of nomenclature to another, though to a better one. A friend remarks, “I recall conversations with Mr. Eckfeldt, showing how seriously he felt the revolution. He would _think_ in carats, and _report_ in decimals. And I often recur to this as illustrating the kind of difficulties which would arise in case of a decimalising of weights and measures.”

For some years prior to 1842, Mr. Eckfeldt and his Assistant, in addition to their ordinary duties, engaged in the preparation of an original and comprehensive work on the Coins of all Nations; on the Varieties of Gold and Silver Bullion; on Counterfeit Coins, and on other subjects related thereto. This was published in 1842, and has long been regarded as a standard authority. In 1850, they issued a supplementary smaller work, and again in 1852.

As the United States increased in commerce, wealth and population, the Mint of course increased in work. In

## particular, Mexican dollars came in great quantities for

recoinage. Not only were our vaults full, but our entries and corridors were at times crowded with rows of kegs. Every day, for years, we had the constant task of sixteen melts of silver ingots to melt and assay; and it was a great advantage and satisfaction to be supplied with the _humid_ apparatus.

The success of gold mining in our Southern States, and the increasing commerce of New Orleans, gave rise to the establishment of three branch mints at the South, in 1837; and it devolved upon Mr. Eckfeldt to become schoolmaster, and educate the three assayers appointed for those places. The same had to be done again at a later date for other mints and assay offices.

In December, 1848, came the first lot of gold grains from California; and with the opening of the next year the tide set in most powerfully. I shall not here speak of this great turning-point in metallic currency any further than as it affected the mint, or rather the labor which it laid upon Mr. Eckfeldt and his department. As is well known, the lots were numerous, and the aggregate amount was enormous. Instead of making gold assays by dozens, we had to go through with hundreds every day, following the arrival of each steamer. We procured young men as operators in the weigh-room and additional workmen in the laboratory; and in spite all the help we were overworked. Here let me say that the persons who have been educated by Mr. Eckfeldt to this profession have done credit to the selection that was made, not only by skill, diligence, and good character while here, but wherever they are now scattered to other mints and assay offices, or to different pursuits.

The gold pressure continued for about five years, when it was relieved by the creation of a Government assay office in New York, and a branch mint at San Francisco. But directly sequent to this came the change of standard in silver coin, causing an immense recoinage in small pieces. Thus our daily assays continued to count by hundreds. This lasted for some years. When it began to slacken off, a law was passed for calling in the large copper coins and issuing in their stead pieces of copper-nickel alloy of much smaller size.

The analysis of Nickel alloys was not well laid down in the books, and the European or other assays which came with purchased lots showed an incorrect determination. Mr. Eckfeldt was therefore obliged to study out and perfect this assay, which is more tedious and laborious, though of less consequence, than the assay of the precious metals.

But it was his habit to be as scrupulous in minor matters as in major; and after the routine was well settled it went on with the same clockwork regularity as the other branches of assaying. I need not say that this nickel coinage imposed another heavy pressure upon the mint for years.

After this came the substitution of the Bronze alloy; and this called for another process of assay, and brought us a great deal of work.

I thus hastily review this sequence of gold, silver, nickel, and bronze, not only as an interesting part of Mint History, but to show the varied and abundant services of the untiring, energetic Principal Assayer, and the masterly skill with which he met every obligation.

His skill and success as an Assayer and Analyst largely consisted in his power of finding out what was defective or erroneous, and in applying the proper remedy. It often seemed that what was a puzzle to others was to him a matter of quick insight.

In the assays of certain complex alloys, and of low grades of gold and silver, he contrived various methods which are not in print, but which are of great use in the daily manipulations.

And here I may state that he not only introduced great accuracy and precision in the assays, but carried special investigations to a delicacy almost incredible. Thus, much interest was excited by a publication some years ago, both in this country and across the Atlantic, of his experiment upon the brick-clay which underlies our city. Taking two samples from the center of the town and the suburbs he found they contained gold at the rate of nearly 12 grains (say fifty cents) to the ton of clay in its ordinary moisture. Other experiments went to prove the very general diffusion of gold, in infinitesimal proportions.

Some analysts, through want of exactitude, or for the pleasure of making a sensation, may produce very curious results; but Mr. Eckfeldt was conscientious, I may say, nervously scrupulous, about stating anything he was not sure of. Partly for that reason, partly for the very love of work, he was laborious to a fault, all his life long.

UNITED STATES MINT OFFICERS.

Washington, D. C., James P. Kimball, Director of the Mint $4,500 Philadelphia, Pa., Daniel M. Fox, Superintendent 4,500 Boise City, Idaho, Norman H. Camp 2,000 Carson City, Nevada, James Crawford, Superintendent 3,000 Charlotte, N. C., Calvin J. Cowles, Assayer 1,500 Denver, Colorado, Herman Silver, Assayer 2,500 Helena, Montana, Russell B. Harrison, Assayer 2,500 New Orleans, La., Andrew W. Smyth, Superintendent 3,500 New York, N. Y., Andrew Mason, Superintendent 4,500 San Francisco, Cal., Edw. F. Burton, Superintendent 4,500 St. Louis, Mo., Eliot C. Jewett, Assayer 2,500

WILLIAM E. DU BOIS.

Extract from an obituary notice by Robert Patterson.

(Read before the American Philosophical Society, November 18, 1881.)

William Ewing Du Bois was born at Doylestown, Pennsylvania, December 15, 1810. Through his father, Rev. Uriah Du Bois, he was descended from Louis Du Bois, a French Huguenot of honorable extraction, who emigrated to America in 1660, seeking freedom of religious worship, and, in connection with others of his countrymen, formed the settlement of New Paltz, Ulster County, New York. Through his mother, Martha Patterson, daughter of Professor Robert Patterson, of the University of Pennsylvania, he inherited the Scotch-Irish element which has exerted so marked an influence in the development of our country.

The father of Mr. Du Bois was a Presbyterian clergyman, in charge of churches in and near Doylestown, and was principal of the Union Academy at that place, a classical school then and afterwards of high reputation. He was greatly respected, both as preacher and teacher.

The bright and studious mind of Mr. Du Bois gathered every advantage from his opportunities, and he was well furnished in the classics and mathematics, and in English literature. While yet a boy he developed a freedom and capacity as a writer quite remarkable.

His oldest brother was an eminent member of the bar, and it seemed fitting that Mr. Du Bois should, under his guidance, adopt the law as his profession. He accordingly pursued the usual course, in the meantime aiding to support himself by literary work and conveyancing, and was admitted to practice in September, 1832. But his health failing him on account of a bronchial affection, he accepted an appointment in the Mint at Philadelphia, and thus began the life-work by which his reputation was established.

Mr. Du Bois entered the Mint in September, 1833, and was first employed in the office of the Director, Dr. Moore. In 1835, at the request of the Assayer, Mr. Jacob R. Eckfeldt, he was transferred to a more congenial position in the assay department. Here he continued for the remainder of his life. In 1836 he was appointed Assistant Assayer. In September, 1872, he succeeded Mr. Eckfeldt as Assayer, and remained at the head of the department until his death, July 14, 1881, thus completing nearly forty-eight years of Mint service.

Mr. Du Bois early took rank as an accomplished assayer, and long before his death had reached the head of his profession.

The close intimacy between Mr. Du Bois and Mr. Eckfeldt developed into warm friendship. The tie was made closer by the marriage of Mr. Du Bois, in 1840, to Susanna Eckfeldt, the sister of his chief. I shall have to speak of published works and scientific communications appearing under the names of Eckfeldt and Du Bois. Although it was understood that Mr. Du Bois was the sole literary author, yet no separate claim of authorship was made by either. Whatever of reputation was earned, each was contented that it might be shared by the other, and jealousy never for a moment weakened a union that bound them for life.

In the year 1834 a change took place in the ratio of gold to silver in the standard of U. S. coins, the effect of which was to bring large deposits of gold to the Mint. The coinage previously had been chiefly of silver. The more equal supply of the precious metals gave active employment in the assay of each of them, and was, of course, most valuable as an experience to Mr. Du Bois, who about this time became connected with the assay department.

In 1837, on revision of the Mint laws and standards brought about by Dr. Robert M. Patterson, then Director, a reform was effected in the method of reporting assays, the millesimal system taking the place of the time-honored but cumbrous method of carats and grains. About this time, also, the older plan of assaying silver was abandoned, the humid assay being substituted, and largely worked under the direct supervision of Mr. Du Bois.

About 1838 branch mints were organized in the States of Louisiana, Georgia, and North Carolina. The labors and responsibilities of the Philadelphia assay department were increased by this development, partly from the necessity of instructing assayers for the new branches, and partly in testing the correctness of the assays made there.

In 1848 the great discovery of gold in California was made known. This brought a tremendous pressure on every department of the Mint, and not the least on the assayers. The gold coinage was, in three years, raised from a little over three million dollars to more than sixty-two millions. The assays were often counted by hundreds in a day. But whatever the pressure in the office, accuracy ruled, and the correctness of the assays was never impeached.

In 1853 a change was effected in the law for providing subordinate silver coins. This brought about, for some years succeeding, an unprecedented coinage of that metal, and still further increased the labors of the assay department.

He instituted the Cabinet of coins which now adorns the Mint. This was commenced in 1838. A small annual appropriation was procured from Congress for this purpose, and the work of collection committed entirely to Mr. Du Bois. He brought to it all the enthusiasm which animates most numismatists, sobered, however, by good judgment. His expenditures were always judicious. Some of the best of the specimens were culled from the Mint deposits for the bullion value, merely, of the pieces. After the collection had taken good shape, and been well classified, he wrote and published, in 1846, a description of it, under the title “Pledges of History,” etc. The title thus selected intimated his opinion as to the real value of such collections. He thought that a coin should be prized for its historical teaching, or artistic merit, and discouraged the rage to possess a piece simply because of its rarity. Mr. Du Bois acted as curator of the Cabinet until his death.

Another important labor undertaken by Mr. Du Bois (in connection with Mr. Eckfeldt) was the preparation and publication, in 1842, of a “Manual of the Gold and Silver Coins of all nations, struck within the past century.” This was a work of very great labor, and, from its expense, of some risk also to the authors. It is admirably arranged, the information clear, and it embraced every subject of interest at that date as to coins, bullion, counterfeits, etc. Subsequently, in 1850 and 1851, supplements were published covering later topics, made prominent in consequence of the California gold discoveries.

The writings of Mr. Du Bois were numerous, and continued up to the year of his death. His papers on numismatics were frequent and always attractive, his last appearance in print being in April of this year, in an article on the “Coinage of the Popes.” To the “American Philosophical Society,” of which he was elected a member in 1844, he made various communications on behalf of Mr. Eckfeldt and himself, mostly on topics suggested by experiences in the assay department. Among the most curious was one on “The Natural Dissemination of Gold,” by which we were astonished to learn that this precious metal is found in appreciable quantity in the clays underlying our city.

In 1869 he wrote for the “Bankers’ Magazine,” “Propositions for a Revised System of Weights, and a Restoration of Silver Currency.” The development of his views on these subjects is a model of clear exposition, and the conclusions reached were such as might be expected from a mind aiming to attain practical results rather than to impose visionary theories.

From the beginning he was highly esteemed at the Mint. It was his ambition to acquire a knowledge of every branch of the service, and with his capacity and opportunities this end was attained. He early became the trusted friend and counsellor of his colleagues, and was able to serve them in many ways, perhaps most of all with his ready pen. As time passed, and forty-eight years of experience was given to him, he was recognized by all as the Nestor of the Mint service. And here I pause to draw a lesson, from the example of Mr. Du Bois’s life, as to the value of a properly organized civil service. In the department with which he was connected, political tests were never obtruded, and permanence of tenure followed on merit. On no other basis could his services have been claimed or retained. They would have been transferred to a private sphere, probably to his pecuniary gain, certainly to the public loss. He was very accessible, and ever ready to lend aid from the stores of his knowledge, but in particular did he delight to instruct and bring forward his younger friends.

Mr. Du Bois was able to fulfill his official duties until within a few months of his death. He was fully conscious of his approaching end, preserving his intelligence to the last, and the faith which had comforted him in this life supported him at its close.

The following minute was adopted at a meeting of the officers and employees after his decease:

“The remarkably close conformity of the United States coins to the standard assigned them by law, has been recognized by the highest Mint authorities of the world to be unsurpassed, if quite equalled, in its uniform exactness. The founding of such a reputation and its continuance during the last half-century, are largely due to the joint labors of the late Jacob R. Eckfeldt and William E. Du Bois.”

MELTERS AND REFINERS.

JOSEPH CLOUD, appointed January, 1797; served until January, 1836 (39 years).

FRANKLIN PEALE, appointed January 5, 1836.

JONAS R. MCCLINTOCK, appointed February 19, 1840.

RICHARD S. MCCULLOCH, appointed in April, 1846; served until April 1, 1849.

JAMES CURTIS BOOTH, Melter and Refiner, was born in Philadelphia in 1810, educated in the same place, and graduated in the University of Pennsylvania 1829. After study and field practice in the Rensselaer School, at Troy, N. Y., in 1831-32, under the late Professor A. Eaton, Mr. Booth studied Practical Chemistry in Germany, in 1833-34-35, in the laboratories of Professors F. Wohler and G. Magnus, and in visiting accessible manufacturing establishments in Germany and England having relation to chemistry. The late Prof. J. F. Frazer and Mr. Booth were the two Assistants on the Geological Survey of Pennsylvania in its first year, 1836. Mr. Booth next had charge of the Geological Survey of Delaware in 1837-38 (being often assisted by Prof. Frazer), and published his report on the survey in 1839-40.

Mr. Booth, observing the great deficiency in the knowledge of Applied Chemistry in his native place, opened a laboratory for teaching the same, by chemical analysis and by operating, in 1836, and the same laboratory has been continued successfully to the present time by Dr. T. H. Garrett and Mr. A. Blair.

With the same object in view, Mr. Booth lectured at the Franklin Institute for nine successive winters, giving three full courses of lectures, each of three winters’ duration (1836-1845).

Prior to 1850 Mr. Booth published the Encyclopædia of Chemistry, being the author of the majority of the articles contained in it, with valuable contributions by Prof. R. S. McCulloch and others. It was a valuable adjunct to the study of chemistry for many years.

The Director and officers of the Mint unsuccessfully solicited the appointment of Mr. Booth as Melter and Refiner of the Mint in 1838-40, but in 1849 Mr. Booth obtained, through his friend, Mr. Meredith, the appointment, over the signature of President Z. Taylor, and has continued in the same position from that date to 1887, a period of more than thirty-six years. He resigned his office at the close of the year 1887.

DR. DAVID K. TUTTLE, of the Carson City Mint, appointed Melter and Refiner January 10, 1888.

NATHANIEL B. BOYD, Assistant Melter and Refiner, was born in Philadelphia, January, 1832. Twenty years later, he was graduated with honors at Burlington College. After leaving College he studied law, and was admitted to the Philadelphia Bar in 1854. In 1869 he accepted an appointment in the National Mint, tendered him by Director Pollock. In 1873 he was appointed Assistant Melter and Refiner, a position which he still occupies (1885).

THE MINT ENGRAVERS.

(Extract from Patterson Du Bois’ Biographical Sketch of “Our Mint Engravers.”)

Whatever may be said concerning the peculiar responsibilities of the officers of the Mint, who are occupied with the various operations of turning bullion into coin, it must be conceded that none of them occupies a position so dubious and, in some ways, so unenviable as the Engraver. In the general transactions of the Mint, he is the most retired—the most obscure—of its officers; yet his card is in every one’s pocket.

As to the types of coinage, the standards are as numerous as the eyes that water for them, and there is no piece but may be said to be outside of _somebody’s_ tolerance. No other artist undergoes such an ordeal, for those who do not admire this painting or that statue are not compelled to hug and hoard it, much less to toil for its possession. The engraver who can, from his retired window, see the critical millions clutching for his little _relievos_, is in some sort a hero _ex-officio_, and it has been well suggested that we look briefly upon the uneventful lives of this worthy line of officers.

I. Robert Scot received his appointment as the first Engraver of the Mint, November 23, 1793. Information is wanting as to his nativity, but at the time of his appointment he seems to have been turning the down-hill of life. He is remembered as rather under size, and as an honorable and agreeable gentleman.

According to Loubat, Joseph Wright was “appointed first a draughtsman and die-sinker to the United States Mint, and made the dies of a medal, the bust on the obverse of which was considered to be the best medallic profile likeness of Washington.[21] He also made the medal voted by Congress to Major Lee.” Wright died in 1793.

II. William Kneass, second of the line, was born in Lancaster, Pa., September, 1781, and was appointed Engraver January 29, 1824. Mr. Kneass had been chiefly a plate engraver for book-work. There were some changes in the coinage during his term, notably in 1834 and 1838, for gold, and 1836, 1837, 1838, and 1840, for silver. But some of this work was done by Gobrecht as assistant. Kneass appears upon a pattern half dollar of 1838; but the silver dollar of 1836, as well as a pattern half of 1838, were the work of his assistant. Prior to his appointment he had an engraving office on Fourth above Chestnut street, Philadelphia, which was a well-known rendezvous for the leading wits and men of culture, for which Philadelphia was then eminent.

Mr. Kneass died in office, August 27, 1840. A good engraving of him hangs in the Assayer’s Office, inscribed “to his friend Adam Eckfeldt, Chief Coiner,”—who had been chiefly instrumental in securing his appointment.