William L. Trenholm was a United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 Comptroller of the Currency from 1886 to 1889.

Trenholm, a Confederate

Confederate States of America

The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...

 Army veteran, was the first Democrat

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 and first Southerner to be appointed Comptroller. Appointed to office by President Grover Cleveland

Grover Cleveland

Stephen Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States. Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents...

, he was known for the large number of changes he recommended in the banking laws.

Some, such as the provision that banks could change name and location without an act of Congress, were adopted. Other recommendations influenced later legislation, including the Federal Reserve Act of 1913. Trenholm resigned to become president of a large insurance company and later served as president of a trust company.