MINNEAPOLIS IMPROVEMENT COMPANY STOCK CERTIFICATE SIGNED BY CONFEDERATE GENERAL THOMAS L. ROSSER (1890)

MINNEAPOLIS IMPROVEMENT COMPANY STOCK CERTIFICATE SIGNED BY CONFEDERATE GENERAL THOMAS L. ROSSER (1890)

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$250.00

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Item Code: 1324-11

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A handsome engraved capital stock certificate of the Minneapolis Improvement Company, dated October 1890 and boldly signed in ink as President by Thomas Lafayette "Tex" Rosser (1836–1910) — one of the Confederacy's most dashing cavalry commanders and, in the postwar decades, a prominent railroad engineer and New South land promoter.

Certificate No. 42, issued to a named shareholder for 100 shares of fully-paid and non-assessable stock (par $10; capital stock $2,000,000 in 200,000 shares). Incorporated under the laws of the State of Virginia, with a struck corporate seal reading approximately "MINNEAPOLIS IMPROVEMENT COMPANY — INCORPORATED MAY 31, 1890 — VIRGINIA." Printed in sepia/brown by the Railroad & Bankers Engraving & Lithographing Co. of New York, with an ornate engraved border, a spread-winged eagle over allegorical and industrial townscape vignettes, and a pale green protective underprint. Rosser's ink signature appears at lower right over the printed "PRESIDENT," the Treasurer's signature at left. The reverse carries the standard, unexecuted transfer/assignment form.

Despite its name, the Minneapolis Improvement Company had nothing to do with Minnesota. It was Rosser's vehicle to promote "Minneapolis, Virginia," an ambitious New South boom town platted in the mineral district of far southwestern Virginia. Reorganized from Rosser's earlier New South Mining and Improvement Company, the venture sold town lots and mineral lands to investors during the speculative frenzy of the early 1890s. Like so many such schemes, it collapsed — the promised city never materialized — making surviving certificates scarce relics of Gilded Age speculation as well as desirable Rosser autographs.

Rosser's career gives the piece broad appeal. A favorite of J.E.B. Stuart, he resigned from West Point just two weeks before graduation to join the Confederacy, rose to major general of cavalry, and famously dueled across the Shenandoah Valley with his former West Point roommate, George Armstrong Custer. After the war he served as chief engineer of the Northern Pacific and Canadian Pacific railroads, lived for years in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and in 1898 was commissioned a brigadier general of U.S. Volunteers in the Spanish-American War — one of the last surviving Confederate generals at his death in 1910.

A strong, displayable association piece bridging Confederate militaria, railroad history, and Gilded Age scripophily.

Approx. 8 x 11 in. Condition: very good for age. Old mailing/storage folds with a small loss at the central fold intersection; light, even toning; crisp printing and a bold, fully legible Rosser signature. Reverse with light show-through.  [ss][ph:L]

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