The U.S. Consulate General in Vancouver is marking the 165th anniversary of the establishment of a U.S. Consulate in British Columbia, with the first consul appointed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1861. Rare historical records, including a handwritten note from the first consul to Lincoln, have been unearthed as part of the celebration.
Lincoln's Appointment of Allen Francis
On June 12, 1849, Allen Francis of Springfield, Illinois, wrote to his friend Abraham Lincoln asking him to personally present his case to President Zachary Taylor for a government job. Twelve years later, after Lincoln became president, he remembered his old friend. On November 11, 1861, Francis was appointed the first U.S. consul in Victoria, British Columbia.
The timing of the appointment may seem odd, given that Victoria had only 5,000 residents and British Columbia was still a British colony. Canada did not become a country until 1867. However, tens of thousands of American miners had flooded into B.C. for gold rushes on the Fraser River and in the Cariboo after 1858. They were sending gold by ship to San Francisco, and many were sympathetic to the Confederacy during the U.S. Civil War, which had begun in the spring of 1861.
Consul's Role During the Civil War
According to Shawn Crowley, the current U.S. Consul General in Vancouver, Francis was dispatched to the west coast to deal with Americans coming into B.C. and to keep tabs on their activities. “It was good to have somebody there to keep an eye on things,” Crowley said. “And trade was picking up between the U.S. west coast and the colony at the time, things that warranted having a consul.”
The primary concern was that Confederate ships—privateers—would attack U.S. vessels, steal their gold, and send it to the rebel states. Historian James Robbins Jewell documented that Francis uncovered two plots in 1863 to secure a ship for the purpose of raiding Union vessels. Victoria’s newspapers even reported on these plots, though they never materialized.
Evolution of the Consulate
Despite the privateer threats never amounting to anything, the U.S. consulate general has continued to operate in British Columbia. It opened an office in Vancouver in 1887, where it remains today. With America’s 250th anniversary approaching on July 4, the consulate delved into its records to explore its own history.
Incredibly, the handwritten note from Francis to Lincoln in 1849 still exists. It ends with Francis telling Lincoln that if he can help him secure a job, “I will be grateful for you forever, and my wife will pray that no cloud may ever darken the sunshine of your prosperity.”
Life and Death of Allen Francis
The first consul’s job was not solely about spying on Confederate sympathizers. Francis was also responsible for dealing with American ships arriving in and departing from Victoria, collecting fees that provided his income. “In the old days, they basically didn’t pay the consul,” Crowley explained. “You collected the fees and you got to keep a portion of them.”
Francis served two terms as consul in Victoria. He was killed in 1887 while serving as American consul in St. Thomas, Ontario. After a railway accident that killed a dozen people, he went to investigate and was run over by a horse-drawn fire wagon.
