Jay Cooke American War

Jay Cooke was an American financier they died at the age of 96 (1821-1905). Cooke is often acknowledged as the first major investment banker in the United States. He is credited with the creation of the first wirehouse which is a large integrated broker with a national, as opposed to regional, business. He greatly helped finance the Union during the Civil War. In fact, he worked with the Treasury Secretary, Salmon P. Chase, and was so successful in distributing Treasury Notes (which are notes issued by the US Treasury for use as currency.) that he was entrusted with 500 million in “five-twenty” bonds to sell.

Jay Cooke was born on August 10th, 1821, to Eleutheros and Martha Carswell Cooke. He was born in Sandusky, Ohio, where his father was a pioneer lawyer and a member of the Ohio General Assembly. His father was also a member of Congress from 1831 to 1833. In 1838, Cooke went to Philadelphia and entered the banking house of E.W. Clarke & Co. as a clerk. He became a business partner in 1842, and January 1st, 1861 he opened his own private banking house of Jay Cooke and Company in Philadelphia.
Soon after the war began the state of Pennsylvania borrowed 3,000,000 dollars to fund its war efforts. In the early months of the war, Cooke worked with the Treasury Secretary, Salmon P. Chase to secure loans from the leading bankers in the Northern cities. Cookes’ firm was so successful in distributing Treasury Notes that Chase appointed him a special "fiscal agent," to sell $500 million in “five-twenty” bonds, (bonds that could be paid in five years and matured in 20), that the Treasury had previously tried, and failed, to sell . This was authorized by Congress on February 25th,