during the investigation that followed, the state's ledger, which was almost indecipherable, was found to show tate giving some state officials loans that were many times left unpaid and advances on their salaries, including an advance of several thousand dollars to governor preston h. leslie in 1872. tate had apparently used some of the state's money to make personal investments in mines and real estate. governor simon b. buckner announced that between his atrocious bookkeeping, his embezzlement and his outright theft, tate had misappropriated $247,128.50 (nearly $7,000,000 in 2017) from the state's treasury.