Blue Ridge Railroad $1,000 Bond signed by Henry Clews - with Imprinted Revenue - For Sale

$1,000 7% Bond signed on back by Henry Clews. Large size measures 15" x 19 1/2" with coupons. Henry Clews (August 14, 1834 " January 31, 1923) was a British-American financier and author. Clews was born on August 14, 1834, in Staffordshire, England. He was the youngest of four sons born to Elizabeth "Bessie" (ne Kendrick) Clews and James Clews, a prosperous manufacturer of Staffordshire ware. At age 14, while in training for the Anglican Church, Clews traveled to New York City, where he "began to perceive the possibilities that presented themselves to a young man." Shortly thereafter, Clews emigrated to the United States in 1853. His first job was at a pottery import business, working as a junior clerk for Wilson G. Hunt & Company. He organized the firm of Stout, Clews & Mason and eventually brought his brother James Clews over from England to help him manage a branch of the brokerage firm. In 1859, he co-founded Livermore, Clews, and Company, what was then the second largest marketer of federal bonds during the United States Civil War. In 1877, he split away and started Henry Clews & Company, a member of the New York Stock Exchange, which made him enormously wealthy. In politics, Clews was a Republican and organized the "Committee of 70," which deposed the corrupt ring associated with William M. Tweed in New York City. He was a friend of President Abraham Lincoln and served as an economic consultant to President Ulysses Grant. Clews, in regards to Grant & Ward, Grant's brokerage firm with Ferdinand Ward, was quoted as saying Item ordered may not be exact piece shown. All original and authentic.