Partly-printed bond signed by William Ravenel. Charleston, South Carolina, 3 June 1863. 1 page, 6 ½ x 4 ½ in. With Palmetto Exporting and Importing Company embossed seal to lower right. 

This bond from the Palmetto Exporting and Importing Company is made out to Johnston Crews & Co. for five $1,000 shares, signed by prominent Charlestonian and shipping magnate William Ravenel. Investors would purchase one of these bonds in hopes of making some easy money — blockade runners could make up to hundreds of thousands of dollars by selling goods such as cotton or tobacco in England. Following a blockade enacted by Abraham Lincoln at the beginning of the Civil War, blockade running was what kept the Confederate armies supplied until the end of the war. 

William Ravenel, while an important shipping merchant, is also the builder of one of the most famous houses in Charleston that is open today to be toured. Built in 1845, it includes a drawing room that is described as the largest room in Charleston and survived the 1886 Charleston earthquake. 

Reference: David McCormick, “The Business of Blockade Running,” U.S. Naval Institute. 

[Civil War, Union, Confederate] [Manuscripts, Documents, Letters, Ephemera, Signatures, Autographs] [Navy, Naval History, Brown Water Navy, David Glasgow Farragut, David Dixon Porter, Battle of Mobile Bay, Battle of New Orleans, Blockade, Confederate Blockade]