In April 1862, as the Civil War raged and the Union’s financial future hung in the balance, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase boarded a special train out of Harrisburg bound for the coal mines of Wiconisco Township in northern Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.

Accompanying him was former Secretary of War Simon Cameron, recently forced out of Lincoln’s cabinet over corruption and mismanagement in the War Department, along with Cameron’s daughters, Chase’s daughter Kate, and a party of invited guests.

The trip sparked a brief firestorm in Washington. Ohio Congressman Clement Vallandigham – a fierce Peace Democrat and future Copperhead – accused Chase of consorting with the disgraced Cameron about “defalcation,” or the misuse of government funds. The charge ignited a shouting match on the House floor with Pennsylvania abolitionist Congressman John Covode, who leapt to Chase’s defense.

The visit itself, reported quietly in the Harrisburg Patriot, has been overlooked by historians including myself.

But the tour of the Lykens Valley and Short Mountain coal operations – where Cameron ally Henry Thomas served as lessee and tour guide – was almost certainly no pleasure excursion.

Within a year, Thomas and Cameron would face corruption charges tied directly to these same coal mines.

Here’s the account of the visit:

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TRIP TO THE LYKENS COAL MINES.- 

A special train left this city on Saturday morning last, in charge of George W. Hambright, the well known and popular conductor of the Northern Central road for the Lykens Valley coal regions, having on board the Secretary of the United States Treasury, Hon. S. P. Chase; Hon. Simon Cameron, J.N. DuBarry, Esq., Captain Wilson, of the U. S. A.; Miss Chase, two daughters of Mr. Cameron, several directors of the road and a few invited citizens. 

The parties arrived at Lykenstown at half-past 11, and thence proceeded to Wiconisco in carriages. From here they made a tour through the coal mines, our friend Harry Thomas acting as chaperone.

The party on their return expressed themselves delighted at the novel sights they saw – how coal was mined, the process necessary, and who and  what the toilers were, doing the work. Before leaving Wiconisco an excellent dinner was prepared for the party at the Wiconisco Hotel. The dinner is said to have been enjoyed, and as having had full justice done it. The dinner was enlivened also with jovial and social conversation on the incidents and objects the trip gave origin to.

Captain Wilson had the post of honor in keeping his distinguished associates in good humor with lively sallies of wit and anecdote. The Captain is a brave soldier, and he will excuse if we add, a capital bon vivant. 

The party returned to Harrisburg the same evening, at half-past 8 o’clock. The object and purpose of the visit we cannot state. They may have been of pleasure, or probably of business. We rather incline to the latter, though both can be indulged in at the same time.

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Read more about the mines at Wiconisco during the Civil War

“This community sustains a great loss” – A fatal mine disaster in Wiconisco Township during the Civil War

“Strike among the coal miners”- Labor unrest in Wiconisco Township during the Civil War

Illustration of the coal mines at Bear Gap, Wiconisco Township, PA | 1862

Patriotic Profiteers: The Lykens Valley Coal Company and the Civil War

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