The E-Sylum:  Volume 2, Number 4, January 25, 1999, Article 7

 RESEARCH QUESTION: J. L. RIDDELL  

   True to form, Pete Smith responded with a detailed reply in 
   response to Brad Karoleff's question about J.L. Riddell:  

      John Leonard Riddell was born in Leyden, Massachusetts, 
      on February 20, 1807.  He was an 1829 graduate of the 
      Rensselar School in Troy, New York.  Trained as a botanist, 
      he was a professor at Cincinnati Medical College and 
      received his M.D. there in 1836. Later he taught at the 
      Medical College of Louisiana which became Tulane University.  

       In 1838 he was appointed melter and refiner for the New 
      Orleans Mint and he continued in that position until 1849. He 
      wrote "A Monograph of the Silver Dollar Good and Bad" in 
      1845.  He is noted for developing an early version of a binocular 
      microscope in 1851. He spent the Civil War years in New Orleans 
      and died there October 7, 1865.   Riddell is not listed in the 
      "Biographical Dictionary of the Confederacy" or several other Civil 
      War references I checked.  His biographies in general references 
      do not indicate service as postmaster.  

       John Henninger Reagan was born in Sevier County, Tennessee, on 
       October 8, 1818.  He was elected to the Texas State Legislature in 
       1847. He was educated as a lawyer and was admitted to the bar in 
       1848. After serving as a district court judge, he was elected to the 
       U.S. Congress and served March 4, 1857, to March 3, 1861. After 
       outbreak of the Civil War, he was elected to the Congress of the 
       Confederacy. In March of 1861, he was appointed by Jefferson Davis 
       as Postmaster General of the Confederacy.  He is credited with 
       maintaining regular mail service during the war and keeping costs  

       affordable.  Late in the war he served as Secretary of the Treasury 
       for the Confederacy.  Following the war, he returned to the practice of 
       law and was elected to the Congress from Texas in 1875. He was 
       elected to the Senate in 1887. He died in Palestine, Texas, on March 
       6, 1905.  

       Both men were married three times. Both men were important enough 
       to have biographies in standard American biographical references. 
       Although Riddell may have held a position as local postmaster, that was 
       not important enough to be included in his biographies. 

  Wayne Homren, Editor

	coinbooks.org Web

The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization 
promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org.

To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor 
at this address: whomren@coinlibrary.com

To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum