Reuel Colt Gridley & The Flour Fundraiser

Welcome to Civics and Coffee. My name is Alycia and I am a self-professed history nerd. Each week, I am going to chat about a topic on U.S history and give you both the highlights and occasionally break down some of the complexities in history; and share stories you may not remember learning in high school. All in the time it takes to enjoy a cup of coffee. 

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Hey everyone. Welcome back. 

The Stockton Rural Cemetery was established in 1861 after the California Gold Rush led to an explosion in the once quiet town’s population. Sitting along the San Joaquin River, Stockton was an easy access point for miners searching for their golden dreams, but the city had very little in terms of infrastructure. Thus, city founder Captain Charles Maria Weber helped raise funds to establish a formal cemetery and it is at this cemetery that visitors will encounter a towering stone monument to an obscure individual by the name of Reuel Colt Gridley. 

Though likely largely unknown today, Gridley became somewhat of a local hero when he traveled the country raising money for the United States Sanitary Commission during the Civil War. But it wasn’t so much that Gridley raised money, it was his novel approach that makes this tale quite fascinating. I learned about this story thanks to the listener who requested this episode - the one and only Dr. Robert Chase - so I hope you all don’t mind that we take a break from our current reconstruction focus to go back a bit to the Civil War. 

This week, I am diving into the history of Reuel Colt Gridley. Who was he? What made his fundraising efforts so iconic? And how did his efforts help soldiers during the Civil War?

Grab your cup of coffee, peeps. Let’s do this. 

Full disclosure today friends - while this is an incredibly fascinating story, it is a bit of a short one. The publicly available source material on Gridley is limited and I pulled much of my information from researcher Dr. Jeremy Rowe’s investigation into the providence and backstory of a historic photo. That being said, this episode may be shorter than usual but I think you’ll enjoy the story nonetheless. So, let’s begin. 

Reuel Colt Gridley was born on January 23, 1829 in Missouri. His family had a long lineage tracing back to New England and it is believed he may be part of the same Colt family known for manufacturing firearms. Called R.C. by his friends, Gridley attended school with Samuel Clemens, later to be known by his pen name Mark Twain. In 1846 at age 17 or 18 Gridley volunteered for the army and was stationed in present-day Taos, New Mexico during the Mexican American War. He returned to Hannibal, Missouri after his service where he met Susan Snyder. The couple married on September 19th, 1850 in Louisiana and Gridley became a carpenter. In 1852, Gridley caught gold fever and relocated to California, landing in Butte County along the Feather River. Like most who went west in the pursuit of gold, Gridley was not able to extract riches. He tried working at various jobs and pursued several business ventures, including running a newspaper and working in a bank, but nothing seemed to stick and Gridley incurred a significant amount of debt - so much so that his debtors put him on notice in an 1858 edition of a local newspaper, the Daily Butte Record. 

Gridley managed to get his finances under control and by 1860 he was operating an express mail route from Oroville to Honey Lake. In 1862, Gridley relocated to Nevada hoping to capitalize on the newest mining boom. Instead of attempting to mine for riches, Gridley became a senior partner in a general store in Austin, located in the Reese River Mining district. As the city grew, the need for a local government prompted the first mayoral race and it was this campaign that launched a folk hero. Gridley was known as a pro-confederate democrat and threw his support behind that party’s candidate for office, David Buel. Gridley’s friend Dr. Henry Herrick was a supporter of the Union candidate, Charles Holbrook and the two placed a wager: if Gridley’s preferred candidate lost, he promised he would march down Main Street with a fifty pound sack of flour on his shoulder as a brass band played “Old John Brown.” 

When the election results came in, Charles Holbrook was the winner meaning Gridley had lost his bet. True to his word, Gridley prepared for his march, even letting the newly elected mayor choose which sack of flour Gridley would carry into town. Decorating the sack of flour in red, white, and blue ribbon, Gridley marched on with his 13 year old son. Locals seemed to get a kick out of the whole display and congregated on Main Street to watch. And here, dear friends, is where this story gets a little wild. After his march, Gridley indicated he had no use for the sack of flour and asked those present what should be done. As the story goes, someone from the crowd suggested selling the flour to the highest bidder and using that money to donate to the United States Sanitary Commission. 

Established in June of 1861, the Sanitary Commission was a civilian-run organization dedicated to improving the conditions of Union soldiers. The need for such an agency became apparent early in the war when volunteers with the Women’s Central Association of Relief noticed a troubling lack of medical supplies and sanitation equipment after the Battle of Bull Run. The association's president Henry W. Bellows traveled to Washington, D.C. where he met with Secretary of War Simon Cameron and suggested establishing some group or organization that could provide the military with much needed assistance. Approved by President Lincoln on June 13th, 1861, members of the Sanitary Commission submitted recommendations on everything from the physical and mental health of army officers and aided in establishing military hospitals and camps, transporting wounded soldiers, and distributing supplies. All of this work was done at no cost to the federal government as the commission ran solely on donations and proceeds from fundraising activities. 

So, despite supporting the confederate side, R.C. Gridley followed the crowd's wishes and hopped onto a dry-goods box and began auctioning off the flour. Several members of the audience made bids and the price of the flour continued to climb until it finally sold for $250. Upon the sale, Gridley asked the winning bidder where he should deliver the flour. The buyer’s response? Sell it again, launching one of the most creative - if not a little odd - fundraising efforts of the Civil War. Gridley played along, offering up the sack of flour to people in the audience. Bids came in, the flour would sell, only for the buyer to turn around and tell Gridley to sell it again. At the days end, Gridley raised $8,000 by the selling the sack of flour to 300 different people. 

In his article summarizing Gridley’s fundraising efforts, researcher Dr. Jeremy Rowe writes quote: “as word of the auction and substantial funds generated at Austin for the Sanitary Commission spread to other mining towns, Gridley’s sack of flour became a metaphor for the efforts to support the Union troops,” end quote. After his efforts in Austin, Gridley fielded requests to go on the road with his sack of flour, all in an effort to raise money in support of the troops. But how did word spread? Enter Samuel Clemens - aka Mark Twain. 

Clemens was working as a journalist during the Civil War and wrote a story about Gridley and his creative auction for the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise newspaper. And as Gridley traveled to new cities, Clemens was there, writing about the fundraising campaign. The flour campaign inspired a bit of competition between localities; when Virginia City learned that their neighbor Gold Hill beat out their $600 contribution by raising over $6,000, they asked Gridley to come back and conduct another auction where they raised a respectable $13,000 - which roughly equals $250,000. Gridley traveled throughout Nevada raising over $30,000 before heading toward California where he brought in over $10,000 between Sacramento and San Francisco. Gridley kept going, heading east where he toured places like St. Louis. 

The sack of flour fundraiser made Gridley somewhat of a local celebrity and a photographer created several carte de viste of Gridley and his flour. Some of these were printed with requests to donate to the Sanitary Commission. These photos ended up being very popular, even getting a mention in a January 1865 edition of Harper’s Weekly. When all was said and done, Gridley’s flour fundraiser traveled over 15,000 miles and raised over $250,000 which equates to roughly $4 million in today’s currency. The fundraiser apparently shifted Gridley’s feelings about the war and he evolved from a confederate sympathizer to supporting the union. Throughout his fundraising endeavor, Gridley paid his own way and did not pull any funds from the collected donations to help offset his costs. He even made a few donations himself while on tour. 

After the Civil War, Gridley returned to Austin where business had all but stopped at his general store. He eventually picked up stakes and relocated one more time in 1868, as he and his family moved to Stockton California close to where his sister lived. Gridley died on November 24th, 1870 at just 41 years old. His death made national news and despite his philanthropic efforts during the war, Gridley died poor. In 1882, Stockton residents took a page out of Gridley’s book and raised money to erect a monument in his honor. The statue was unveiled in 1887 and currently sits in the Stockton Rural Cemetery. Gridley’s former general store, described as a simple stone structure, is listed as a National Historic place and the National Historical Society in Reno currently holds the auctioned sack of flour, which is currently on display. The state of Nevada refers to Gridley as a quote unquote citizen extraordinaire and in an article written in 2005, Gridley is described as quote “one of the greatest unarmed heroes of the war,” end quote.      

If you want to see the monument yourself, head over to the Stockton Rural Cemetery located in the city of Stockton at 2350 Cemetery Lane. The cemetery offers tours and has several notable local residents including Dr. Asa Clark and Harriet M. Smith.

As for the Sanitary Commission, it continued to operate until 1879 though it ended its war relief efforts in 1865. For the decade plus after the War, the Commission shifted its focus to establishing a historic bureau to capture, index, and preserve its records. The organization also ran special relief operations to help veterans including employment bureaus and overseeing homes that assisted disabled soldiers. The Commission also helped soldiers and their families request pensions from the federal government at no cost, remaining true to its core mission of supporting the union troops through benevolent means. 

Thanks again to Professor Chase for recommending I dive into this quirky, yet charming story. If you ever have a topic you want me to cover, just let me know. It’s always a fun experience for me to stretch my research legs a bit and I always discover something I didn’t know before. You can find me on BlueSky at CivicsPod, threads and instagram at Civics and Coffee and on Facebook at Civics and Coffee. Of course, you can also always find me through my website at www dot civics and coffee dot com. The website is also where you can see source material, review transcripts, and learn about ways you can support the pod. 

Thanks everyone, I will see you next week.

Thanks for tuning and I hope you enjoyed this episode of Civics & Coffee. If you want to hear more small snippets from american history, be sure to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening and I look forward to our next cup of coffee together. 

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