Fraser, Trenholm, and Co. (Liverpool, England)

John Fraser & Company was a commercial firm based in Charleston, S.C., that shipped cotton to Great Britain, among other ventures. George Alfred Trenholm headed the company by 1853. Beginning in 1864, Trenholm served as Secretary of the Treasury to the Confederate States of America. During the Civil War, Fraser, Trenholm, & Company acted as the overseas banker of the Confederate States of America, financing the supply of weaponry and essential goods in exchange for cotton, tobacco, and turpentine. The firm participated in blockade running, built vessels, such as the C.S.S. Alabama for the Confederate Navy and encouraged European support for the Confederacy. After Confederate surrender, the U.S. government filed suit against Great Britain for its conduct during the American Civil War in an effort to recover Confederate property and assets in foreign countries. In 1871, the claim was heard at the Tribunal of Arbitration in Geneva.