November 2014 Whole No. 201 Vol. 42, No. 4 PENNSYLVANIA POSTAL HISTORIAN THE BULLETIN OF THE PENNSYLVANIA POSTAL HISTORY SOCIETY Inside this issue: Reader Response A Black Philadelphia Octagon from 1835 Some Other Black Philadelphia Markings from 1839 General Pike P. O., Chester County Second Hat (Lancaster County), Pa. Cover Discovered The Earliest 1-Cent 1861 Use at Pittsburgh Additional Input (III) on The RIMLESS “PHILADELPHIA / PA.” DUPLEX HANDSTAMP 1879 – 1880 MAIL DELAYED / ROADS IMPASSABLE Smoke Run, Clearfield County, Pa. Philadelphia to Dresden, 1899 If It’s Too Good to be True, It Probably Isn’t 2 nd Update on Pennsylvania Manuscript Markings, Part XVII (Monroe and Montgomery Counties)
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November 2014 Whole No. 201 Vol. 42, No. 4
PENNSYLVANIA POSTAL HISTORIAN THE BULLETIN OF THE PENNSYLVANIA POSTAL HISTORY SOCIETY Inside this issue: Reader Response
A Black Philadelphia Octagon from 1835 Some Other Black Philadelphia Markings from 1839 General Pike P. O., Chester County Second Hat (Lancaster County), Pa. Cover Discovered The Earliest 1-Cent 1861 Use at Pittsburgh Additional Input (III) on The RIMLESS “PHILADELPHIA / PA.” DUPLEX HANDSTAMP 1879 – 1880 MAIL DELAYED / ROADS IMPASSABLE
Smoke Run, Clearfield County, Pa. Philadelphia to Dresden, 1899 If It’s Too Good to be True, It Probably Isn’t 2nd Update on Pennsylvania Manuscript Markings, Part XVII (Monroe and Montgomery Counties)
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A Black Philadelphia Octagon from 1835 Some Other Black Philadelphia Markings from 1839 By Rick Leiby (# 379) The cover shown in Figure 1 is a newly reported Philadelphia 1834-1836 Octagon in black ink. The postmark was normally struck in red ink. The cover came from a large lot of Philadelphia covers recently sold at auction and was discovered by my good friend Steve Roth, being offered in a dealers stock. This is the first recorded example of a strike in black ink for these octagon markings in the records of Tom Clarke and Norm Shachat.
Figure 1 April 21, 1835 Philadelphia octagon with broken rim used January 1835 to October 1835. This example struck in black ink rather than the usual red. Marked as a double [letter] in manuscript (black ink) and rated 10 cents (in red ink) paying the single zone rate for 30-80 miles. Trenton is 33 miles from Philadelphia. Rate struck out with black ink since sent to a US Senator.
The marking when examined under strong magnification does not exhibit any residual red ink and under black light fluoresces uniformly, which makes a strong case that it is not a color change caused by some environmental exposure. Additionally, on the reverse there is smudged black ink, which would occur if a group of letters were cancelled and piled as they were struck. However, the smudge is not an offset.
The contents are datelined April 21, 1835, and the cover is docketed as answered 16th May 1835. The letter states a check is enclosed as a retainer for legal services in a lawsuit. Thus the letter would be a double rate. The letter was sent to Samuel L. Southard a well-
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known New Jersey lawyer and politician as detailed in the congressional biographies that can be found on-line.
SOUTHARD, Samuel Lewis, (son of Henry Southard and brother of Isaac Southard), a Senator from New Jersey; born in Basking Ridge, Somerset County, N.J., June 9, 1787; attended the village school; graduated from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton College) in 1804; engaged as tutor by a family near Fredericksburg, Va., in 1805; studied law and was admitted to the bar in Virginia in 1809; returned to New Jersey and commenced practice in Flemington in 1811; member, State general assembly 1815; associate justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court 1815-1820; moved to Trenton, N.J.; appointed and subsequently elected as a Democratic Republican to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of James J. Wilson and servedfrom January 26, 1821, to March 3, 1823, when he resigned, having been tendered a Cabinet portfolio by President James Monroe; Secretary of the Navy 1823-1829; Secretary of the Treasury ad interim in 1825; Secretary of War ad interim in 1828; attorney general of New Jersey 1829-1833; Governor of New Jersey 1832-1833, when he resigned to become Senator; elected as an Anti-Jacksonian (later Whig) to the United States Senate in 1833; reelected in 1838, and served from March 4, 1833, until his death; served as President pro tempore of the Senate during the Twenty-seventh Congress; chairman, Committee on Naval Affairs (Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth Congresses); died in Fredericksburg, Va., June 26, 1842; interment in the Congressional Cemetery, Washington, D.C. Dictionary of American Biography; Birkner, Michael. Samuel L. Southard: Jeffersonian Whig. Rutherford, N.J.: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1984; Ershkowitz, Herbert. “Samuel L. Southard: A Case Study of Whig Leadership in the Age of Jackson.” New Jersey History 88 (Spring 1970): 5-24.
The rating is interesting in that the cover, while docketed and supported by the letter contents as what should have been a double rate, is rated as a single letter, and then the rate is crossed out. Having been elected as a member of the US Senate, Southard was entitled to the franking privilege for his incoming and outgoing mail during his attendance during the period Congress was in session and for 60 days before and after such session, as long as the
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letter did not exceed two ounces. (Laws Instructions and Forms, for the Regulation of the Post-Office Department 1832; Wierenga 1980 reprint, p 52.) The 23rd US Congress was in session from December 1, 1835 until March 3, 1835. Since Philadelphia was not going to collect the fee and the cover was going to be subject to the franking privilege, it is speculated the clerk simply wrote the distance rate on the cover not worrying if there was an enclosure, and let the Trenton PO be concerned with the correct rating. The PHILA. octagon markings of 1834 to 1836 have three distinct varieties: the full frame line, the broken frame line, and the dropped frame line. This marking is the broken frame line (Clarke No. 52 b or Stets O-2). Tom Clarke in his recent electronic update, to A Catalog of Philadelphia Postmarks Interim Listings, December 2012 has recorded the usage dates as January 29, 1835 to October 21, 1835 for the broken rim variety. This strike then is from the 3rd month of a 9-month period of use. Until this example, all of the early octagon markings were recorded only struck using red ink. This marking device was modified and reused for transatlantic mail 12 years later. When this occurred, the marking again is only known in red. From 1798 with the introduction of the PHI circular date stamp until 1854 when Philadelphia became a foreign exchange office requiring both red and black markings, red and blue inks were the only colors used by the Philadelphia P. O. Both of these produced varying shades dependent upon the source and the composition. There are examples known of shades of blue that are gray almost black in color and reds that are deep brown also approaching black. But generally speaking Philadelphia did not use black ink for its postmarks with a few singular exceptions in January of 1839 when black ink was used for a period of approximately 9 days (January 12 to January 21). It has been speculated that the reason for the use of black was a supply problem in obtaining the normal blue ink. The discovery of this octagon marking struck with black ink is quite surprising. The reason for the use of black ink is entirely speculation, but the lack of examples leads to one of either two scenarios: either employee error or an extremely short term supply issue. Until other examples of the marking in black ink are found this cover will remain an anomaly for Philadelphia postal history collectors. 1839 Black Postmarks The use of black ink in 1839 occurs with both the PHILADA. / PA. marking (Clarke No 56b or Stets C-3a) used from 1836 until 1841 and the PHILADELPHIA / PA (Clarke No 55b or Stets C-4a) used from 1837 until 1841. Examples are shown as Figures 2-6 involving both markings and both domestic and foreign mail usages.
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Figure 2 A gray–black marking, from January 12, 1839 generally considered the first day of the use of black ink, used on domestic mail. The color of the marking shows the transition from blue to black ink. A cursory look would suggest that the marking is in black but under magnification the blue is evident at the edges of the marking. January 12 is recorded as the beginning of the use of black ink. When the new ink was added to the stamp pad, there would be a transitional period before the new black ink overwhelmed the residual blue ink. The image used was subjected to a filter to attempt to present in the illustration the difference in intensity of the marking color from that shown in Figure 4, a very definite black color.
Figure 3 Clarke No 56 b Used on domestic mail January 17, 1839. Rated 12 ½ for the single rate to Alexandria, VA.
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Figure 4 Clarke No 55 b used on domestic mail January 18, 1839. Unrated because it was a drop letter in the city of Philadelphia. Fee charged was 1 cent.
Figure 5 Clarke No 56 b marking in black on transatlantic cover. Triple rate freight money cover sent from Philadelphia to London January 15, 1839. Sent aboard the steamer Royal William of the City of Dublin Steam-packet Company. Philadelphia rated the letter as a triple rate for 2 enclosures 3 times the 12½ cent inland fee to New York plus 3 times the 25 cent freight money fee from New York to England. Subsequently rated 3s2d as a double rate by the British for twice the 8d ship fee plus twice the 11d inland fee.
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Figure 6 Clarke No 55 b marking in black on transatlantic cover. Quadruple rate freight Money cover sent from Philadelphia on the same sailing of the Royal William. Philadelphia rated the letter as a quadruple rate for 3 enclosures 4 times the inland fee of 12½ cents plus 4 times the freight money fee of 25 cents. Britain rated as a double rate 3s2d the same as the cover in Figure 5.
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Editor’s Comment: For anyone interested in more details regarding the 1834 – 1836 Philadelphia octagonal postmarks, please refer to the several articles by your editor published in the Historian approximately 3 decades ago. They appear in the following issues: March-April 1986, pp.4-9 Jan.-Feb. 1987, pp. 2-3 March-April 1989, pp. 6-7 May-June 1989, pp. 7-9 Also see Tom Clarke’s articles on the subject in LaPosta (Sept 2000, pp. 67-75 and Jan. 2001, pp.37-39. We are both mentioned in the first paragraph of Rick’s article because we have spent a good portion of our lives studying Philadelphia postmarks. I think we can agree with Rick’s conclusion that the “black” octagonal marking is indeed an anomaly. Finally, as indicated in this year’s May Issue of the Historian (p. 5), my 2-frame exhibit entitled “The 1834-1836 Philadelphia Octagonal Postmarks” was awarded a Vermeil at PNSE 2014. I thought it was a complete showing of the subject, but now it is missing one item, Rick’s black strike. ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
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General Pike P. O., Chester County A Rare Find on E-Bay By William R. Schultz (# 202, LM # 6) After searching for 30 years, the only General Pike cover I have ever seen showed up on E-bay (Figure 1). It was posted on Aug. 3, 1831 addressed to Pottsville, Pa. The manuscript 20(¢) collect rate paid the double 30-80 mi. rate in effect as of 1816.
Figure 1 The earliest records indicate Charlestown township included the (later) known township of Schuylkill and also Phoenixville. In 1806 a Post Office called Charleston was established at the Bull Tavern near Valley Forge by Samuel Lane (Figure 2). About ten years later the Charleston P. O. was moved three miles west by the new Postmaster, John Morgan, to his recently constructed inn, the General Pike Inn (Figure 3).
Figure 3 General Pike Tavern (Inn) & P. O.
Figure 2
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The General Pike P. O. began operations on March 3, 1831 with Abraham Olwine appointed the Postmaster. He was followed by Major McVeigh appointed April 30, 1834; then Nathan McVeigh, the last Postmaster, appointed May 6, 1836. Most likely the area residents were provided mail services at the Phoenixville P. O. after the P. O. was discontinued on Nov. 13, 1837. ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• PRESIDENT’S LETTER continued from page 2: Figure 1 Figure 2 Delaware Country, and perhaps the cover was first sent there. But it's the Chester in "Meigs Co. O." There's a Pomeroy O. / Rec'd backstamp Nov. 5 (Figure 3). Pomeroy is on the Ohio River in the extreme SE corner of the state, a few miles SW of Chester. Lebanon, to which it was forwarded, arriving on the 7th, is across the state, near Cincinnati. So this cover made its trip in seven days; would it have done as well today? Until next time, Steve Figure 3 •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
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MAIL DELAYED / ROADS IMPASSABLE
By Allison Cusick (# 594)
"James says to tell Grandma his throat is well." The message may be trivial, but the US Post Office gave it the same importance as a letter from a bank president. The USPOD prided itself on timely delivery. If the mail was delayed for any reason, the USPOD had to explain just why. In this case, the blame could be placed on Mother Nature.
I plucked the illustrated postcard (Figure 1) from a bin in a local bookstore. It's ordinary enough. The reverse has a prosaic scene of a Pittsburgh city park. The face bears a common Doremus machine cancel from Turtle Creek, dated February 21, 1914. This cancel was used from 1911 through 1915 (F. Langford, Standard Encyclopedia of Doremus Machine Cancels, 2nd Ed., Pasadena CA, 1988). Turtle Creek is a borough in Allegheny County about 12 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. Today it's a populous suburb, but a century ago the area was largely rural. The card is addressed to RD#1, Turtle Creek. The postmark is timed 6:30 PM. Feb. 21 which was a Saturday in 1914. Thus, the sender could expect it to be delivered on Monday morning, the 23rd. But apparently there was a problem. The card received a magenta rubberstamped auxiliary marking: "MAIL DELAYED/ROADS IMPASSABLE".
Figure 1
Off to the Carnegie library I went to consult the February 1914 newspapers. My primary reference was the "Pittsburg Press", then the paper with the region's greatest circulation, but since defunct. (And yes, the spelling of Pittsburgh minus the "h" is correct for 1914.) The
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"Press" was an evening paper. The next day's weather predictions consisted of one or two words on the front page, such as "cold", "snow", "fair" or the decidedly unhelpful "unsettled". The National Weather Service forecast snow for Friday the 13th and indeed eight inches fell that day. Temperatures warmed up the week of the 15th and all that snow turned into slush. By Saturday the 21st, when this postcard was mailed, one can imagine the muddy state of the unpaved country roads. The mail carriers with their horses and buggies must have had a difficult time of it. So it's little wonder this card was delayed.
Mrs. Davidson of RD#1 had to wait an extra day or two to receive the news from her unsigned friend. And so did everyone else, no doubt, on the rural routes about Turtle Creek. Fortunately, this card survives to document how seriously the USPOD took its mission of speedy and dependable service to the public.
Member E-Mail Addresses (cont.) Gordon Trotter [email protected] (Nathan Trotter & Co. Correspondence) Dan Telep [email protected] (Economy, Sewickley, Western Pa.) Bill Thoman [email protected] (U. S. Stampless Covers, Dealer) Joe Volutza [email protected] (Berks county, Dealer) Steve Washburne [email protected] (Philadelphia, Monmouth Co., N. J.) Harry Winter [email protected] (Centre County, Railroads) Cliff Woodward [email protected] (Western Pa., Oil Towns) Ronald J. Yeager [email protected] (Elk, Cameron and McKean Counties) PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU WOULD LIKE YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS LISTED HERE. INDICATE YOUR PA COLLECTING INTEREST.
