Document of pledges signed by the United Merchants of Austin, Nevada for a [x=#8220/]Sack of Flour[x=#8221/] auctioned for the U.S. Sanitary Fund by Reuel Colt Gridley (April 20, 1864) [x=#8211/] Also a Billhead from his store and a photograph (Carte de Viste) o R.C. Gridley [x=#8220/]That Sanitary Sack of Flour[x=#8221/]. (3 Items) Gridley is famous for his April 19, 1864 wager which prompted the auctioning of a sack of flour for donations to the "Sanitary Fund," the Civil War forerunner of the American Red Cross. This is the original document resulting from that wager, thought long lost to history, but now discovered. The original sack of flower is at the Nevada Historical Society today. The flour was sold first in Austin on the day after the election (April20, 1864) where he and his business, Gridley, Hobart and Jacobs were located and then sold again and again throughout Nevada and California, then taken east and eventually auctioned at the St. Louis World's Fair in 1864, after raising $275,000 for this fund. The U.S Sanitary Fund was the precursor to the Red Cross and was focused on helping the Union Soldiers. The document reads, [x=#8220/]We the undersigned Merchants of the town of Austin hereby subscribe the sums opposite our names the aggregate of which is to be the last Bid for the Sack of Flour offered this day at the public sale the proceeds of which is appropriated to the U.S. Sanitary Fund said sum to be the last bid on said flour and shall be known as the [x=#8220/]United Merchants Bid[x=#8221/] Below this is a list of signatures of Austin Merchants and their bids: a. Lord Holbrook & Co. $25 (Iron importers, became Holbrook, Merrill & Co., Sacramento)* b. Paxton Thornburgh $25 (Bankers)* c. McDaniel & Co. $25 (Groceries and general merchandise)* d. Bernhard & Co. $25 (Groceries and general merchandise)* e. Gridley Hobart & Jacobs $25 (General Store) f. W.S. Gage & Co. $25 (Groceries and general merchandise)* g. Van Winkle & Duncan $25 (Importers of iron, steel, coal in Sacramento @93 J Street)* h. (4) Cash @ $5 each $20 i. (Faded entry) $20 j. Hookes & Levy $10 k. Wells Fargo & Co. $25 l. White & Banister $25 m. Veatch & Co. $25 (Assayer)* The total of $300 agrees with the History of Nevada by Myron Angel 1881 p. 269 for the contribution made by the United Merchants group of Austin. All are marked [x=#8220/]paid[x=#8221/] and since the payments were collected on the spot in gold, the document is dated the day of the first auction in Austin. Handwritten on light blue note paper. Small tear 1 ? inches long along a fold, otherwise very fine. A RARE set of Documents! Reuel Colt Gridley of Austin, Nevada. was born in Missouri and a classmate of Mark Twain, had served in the Mexican War before journeying to California in 1852. While in California he worked as a miner, newspaperman, banker and auctioneer among other occupations. In April of 1864 he became part owner of a General store (Gridley, Hobart & Jacobs) in the small mining town of Austin, Nevada. Later he teamed up with Thomas Callow in 1866. Gridley, an American adventurer and entrepreneur opted to run for Mayor of the town. He was known as a Missouri Democrat with sympathies to the Southern cause. His opponent was a staunch Republican, Dr. H. S. Herrick, who was a Northern Unionist. The Civil War was in full bloom and the debates were hot and heavy on the future of the United States and all the issues involving states[x=#8217/] rights. Gridley bet a sack of flour with Dr. Herrick that he would be elected mayor of the city. The bet was that the loser would carry a 50 lb. sack of flour from Austin to Clifton, a distance of one and a quarter mile, Gridley lost. Making good on his wager, Gridley lugged a 50 lb. bag of flour (amply decorated with Union flags and ribbons) through Austin to the accompaniment of a brass band and a crowd of raucous, inebriated miners from both political camps. Dr. Herrick "graciously" carried Gridley's coat and cane for him as the many stamp mills steam whistles howled in approval. On arrival a saloonkeeper from the Bank Exchange Saloon invited the crowd in for a drink. There were many jokes and a lot of teasing as Dr. Herrick refused to accept the 50-pound sack of flour, leaving Gridley [x=#8220/]holding the bag.[x=#8221/] At last Gridley said, [x=#8220/]This crowd of people has had their fun at my expense; let us see now who will do most for the sick and wounded soldiers. We will put this sack of flour up for auction to be sold for cash, with the understanding that the buyer is to return it, to be sold again for the benefit of the Sanitary Commission.[x=#8221/] The Sanitary Commission provided for wounded Civil War soldiers and was the forerunner of today[x=#8217/]s Red Cross. Gridley auctioned the sack to T.B. Wade for $350. Wade returned the sack and asked Gridley to auction it again. The entire afternoon was spent auctioning and re-auctioning the same 50-pound sack of flour. By day[x=#8217/]s end, $4,549.80 had been collected and Gridley still had the sack. He took the act on the road. According to author Mark Twain in his 1870 book "Roughing It[x=#8221/], [x=#8220/]The excitement grew and grew. The sack was sold over and over again for the benefit of the Fund. The news of it came to Virginia City by telegraph. It produced great enthusiasm, and Reuel Gridley was begged by telegraph to bring the sack and have an auction in Virginia City. He brought it. An open barouche was provided, and also a brass band. The sack was sold over and over again at Gold Hill, then was brought up to Virginia City toward night and sold -- and sold again, and again, and still again, netting twenty or thirty thousand dollars for the Sanitary Fund. Gridley carried it across California and sold it in various towns. He sold it for large sums in Sacramento and in San Francisco. He brought it East, sold it in New York and in various other cities, then carried it out to a great Fair at St. Louis, and went on selling it; and finally made it up into small cakes and sold those at a dollar apiece. First and last, the sack of flour which had originally cost ten dollars, perhaps, netted more than two hundred thousand dollars for the Sanitary Fund.[x=#8221/] The fact was it netted over $275,000. Gridley, who had become a Union supporter during his travels, was now famous. Where the flour was last sold is the stuff of legends. It definitely made it to the St. Louis World's Fair in 1864, possibly even to the Sanitary Fair in St. Louis in 1865. The sack was adopted by Austin as the city's symbol and today the empty sack can be found in the Nevada Historical Society Museum in Reno. Ref. References: - Roughing It by Mark Twain 1872, p. 314-319 - Reese River Reveille April 20, 1864 - Pacific Coast Business Directory for 1867 by Langley p. 209, 296-299 - History of Nevada by Myron Angel 1881 p.269 - The Town That Died Laughing [x=#8211/] Austin and the Reese River Reveille by Oscar Lewis 1955, p.121-131 - Reuel Colt Gridley [x=#8220/]The Auction Man[x=#8221/] & [x=#8220/]Citizen Extraordinaire[x=#8221/] (1829 [x=#8211/]1870) By Robert A. Doyle, http://www.auctioneersfoundation.org/museum-articles-detail.php?id=4764 Austin Nevada 1864