Reuel Colt Gridley
Reuel Colt Gridley
Early day Austin merchant who became
famous for carrying a 50-pound sack of
flour from Austin to Clifton, on April 19,
1864, to pay off an election bet.
While celebrating afterward, Gridley
decided to auction off the sack at flour
By auctioning the sack in Austin, Virginia
City, Sacramento, and San Francisco, he
raised $200,000 for the Sanitary
Commission, a private relief agency for
sick and wounded Union soldiers
This was the forerunner of the Red Cross.