Lot 168
Russell, William H. (Pony Express) (1812-1872) Russell was a well respected businessman and co-founding partner, along with Alexander Majors and William B. Waddell, in the freighting firm Russell, Majors, and Waddell, the stagecoach company the Central Overland California and Pikes Peak Express Company which was the parent company of the Pony Express. Rare Autograph document signed twice ("Russell"), on blue lined paper, 5¼ x 7¾ in., Washington City, August 20, 1860. To Hon. J. B. Floyd, Secretary of War. Being a request for future payment of $10,000. per a contract with the War Department: "…Five months after date pay to our own order at the Bank of Republic New York. Ten thousand dollars for value received and charge to account of our transportation contract of the 12th day of April 1860." The approval for the request has been written vertically and overlaps the face of the document: "No 64 / accepted / Secretary of War / War Department / August 22nd 1860 / Copy". Russell has also written the company name "Russell Majors & Waddell" on the back of the document. Small embossed congressional seal upper left corner. Two vertical folds. Very fine.
In attempting to secure funding to continue running the Pony Express, Russell became mixed up in a scandal involving Secretary of War John Buchanan Floyd and Godard Bailey, a clerk for the Department of Interior. In 1857 Secretary Floyd had personally guaranteed payment for a government contract that Congress had not paid. Russell, Majors, and Waddell used this guarantee to secure a line of credit but the failure of the Pony Express now threatened to bankrupt the firm. Bailey, perhaps fearing that Floyd, as a guarantor of some of Russell, Majors, and Waddell's debt, would be forced to resign if the firm went bankrupt, agreed to help Russell raise money. Through a series of illegal transactions, money was obtained from the Indian Trust Fund. However, on December 1, 1860, Bailey confessed to Floyd and was arrested and brought to trial along with Russell. The outbreak of the American Civil War saved the men from prosecution and they were freed on a technicality. But the bond scandal had ruined the reputation of Russell, Majors, and Waddell and their freighting firm soon collapsed into bankruptcy.
Estimated Value $2,500 - 3,000.
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