Details:

Edward A. Burke autographed 1879 canceled check.

Edward Austin Burke or Burk (September 13, 1839 – September 24, 1928), was the Democratic State Treasurer of Louisiana following Reconstruction.  As Treasurer of Louisiana, New Orleans, May 2, 1879, very low no. 35, “Current School” account. Claiming to be a former Confederate officer born in Kentucky, the actual side on which he served and his place of birth remain a mystery. Rapidly rising in New Orleans’ inside circles, Burke exchanged pistol fire on a New Orleans street with the Gov. of Louisiana in a fizzled coup d’état. Promoter of the World Cotton Centennial, a postwar Southern world’s fair, Burke again became mired in controversy. Linked to the corrupt Louisiana Lottery, he actually moved it from Louisiana to Honduras, generating still more scandal. Helped negotiate the Compromise of 1877, ending Reconstruction; elected State Treasurer, and as publisher of the New Orleans Times-Democrat, his power exceeded that of the Governor. Indicted in the following decade for embezzling over $1 million in Louisiana bonds, he fled to Honduras, repeating his climb to power, and living in luxury in the tropics. It was there that he welcomed Charles Lindbergh, on a goodwill flight through Central America in 1928, seemingly eons after the Civil War from which he had emerged.

Fine condition.

Authentication:
Includes a full letter of authenticity from JG Autographs, Inc.

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Reference sku: 11587 1392136-1