Namesake of McCulloch Park, formerly Broadway Cemetery the city burying grounds in the early 1800s where his wife Eunice who died at age 26 on February 29, 1836 was buried, then moved when Lindenwood Cemetery opened in 1860. His McCulloch House is still standing.
On March 6, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln nominated Hugh McCulloch of Fort Wayne to become secretary of the Treasury. He continued to serve in the cabinet after Lincoln's assassination and throughout President Andrew Johnson’s administration. As secretary, McCulloch "maintained a policy of reducing the federal war debt and the careful reintroduction of federal taxation in the South" (according to the U.S. Treasury Dept.). McCulloch also fought a losing battle to conquer Reconstruction era inflation by returning U.S. currency to the gold standard.
In 1884, President Chester Arthur tapped McCulloch again to serve as secretary for the final four months of his administration.
#OTD in 1865, President Abraham Lincoln nominated Hugh McCulloch of Fort Wayne to become Secretary of the Treasury. He...
#OTD in 1865, President Abraham Lincoln nominated Hugh McCulloch of Fort Wayne to become Secretary of the Treasury. He continued to serve in the cabinet after Lincoln's assassination and throughout President Andrew Johnson’s administration.
As secretary, McCulloch "maintained a policy of reducing the federal war debt and the careful reintroduction of federal taxation in the South," according to the U.S. Treasury Department McCulloch also fought a losing battle to conquer Reconstruction era inflation by returning U.S. currency to the gold standard.
In 1884, President Chester Arthur tapped McCulloch again to serve as secretary for the final four months of his administration.
President Lincoln appointed Hugh McCulloch as U.S. Secretary of the Treasury in March, 1865. McCulloch was a business man from Fort Wayne, Indiana, who, before his appointment, was Comptroller of the Currency, responsible for chartering, regulating, and supervising national banks. Upon Lincoln’s death, Secretary McCulloch issued an order from the Treasury Department ordering that all department employees wear black crape on their left arms for six months in mourning for the President.
McCulloch was buried in Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington. His grave is marked: “Hugh McCulloch Dec. 7 1808-May 24, 1895 Comptroller of the Currency 1863 Secretary of the Treasury 1865 to 1869, and in 1884 ‘Justice and Judgment are the habitation of Thy Throne. Mercy and Truth shall go before Thy face.’” His second wife, Susan lived until July 25, 1898, devoting her remaining years to writing her autobiography “The Recollections of Susan Man McCulloch”. In 1981, they were presented to the Allen County-Fort Wayne Historical Society. Copied from The Father of Modern Banking Hailed from Fort Wayne by Nancy McChamon published July 26, 2012, and Hugh McCulloch: Lincoln’s Choice published August 21, 2014 and his son John Ross McCulloch published August 29, 2013 both by Tom Castaldi on the History Center Notes & Queries blog. Hugh McCulloch: Father of Modern Banking book is available from The History Center.
Financial security and prosperity have long been sought by the people that call Fort Wayne home. From 1794 until 1835, our city did not have an established banking institution, primarily relying on banks in the more populous Ohio River Valley and Eastern States. With the creation of the State Bank of Indiana in 1833, this all changed and the Fort Wayne branch of the bank was officially established on August 25, 1835, exactly 187 years ago today. The list of principals who organized the bank reads like a “who’s who” of prominent men of the era: Allen Hamilton (president), Hugh McCulloch (cashier) and directors William Rockhill, Asa Fairfield, Jesse Vermilyea, Francis Comparet and William G. Ewing, among others. This branch operated until the charter of the bank was revoked in 1859 and the state allowed the creation of the privately held Second Bank of Indiana, which took over local operations. This bank operated in Fort Wayne until 1865 when it merged with another local bank, which in 1885 changed its named to Old National Bank. In 1863, First National Bank was the first bank in Indiana to receive a charter under the new national banking system, through several events Fort Wayne’s first banks and this second would join together and be important institutions in our community. In 1905, First National consolidated with White National Bank and in 1917 with Hamilton National Bank. Now known as First and Hamilton National Bank, the institution merged with Old National and became Old-First National Bank. In 1933, Old-First National closed in March, but was reorganized and reopened in October as the new Fort Wayne National Bank. Fort Wayne National operated as an independent banking institution until its acquisition by National City Bank in 1998. Through its most recent incarnation, it continues to serve the citizens of Fort Wayne & Allen County as PNC. ts most recent incarnation, it continues to serve the citizens of Fort Wayne & Allen County as PNC. #sociallyhistory
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Raise your hand if you are one of the lucky ones to have old family letters in your possession!
