Another Cross Border Cover

Here's a very nice little ladies cover from Port Henry (Essex County) to Brooklin, Upper Canada (Canada West). Perhaps the most interesting aspects are the Red PAID and X from Port Henry, signifying the 10c rate to Canada and the Arc and Shield Exchange Marking from Rouse's Point, NY, the exchange post office.

Markings:

Port Henry, NY (Nov. 24)

Rouses Point, NY (Nov. 25)

Montreal, LC (Nov. 25, 1852)

????? (Nov. 26, 1852)

Brooklin, UC (Nov. 28, 1852)

4 days from the US to Canadian destination. Takes at least a week today.

Another Cross Border Cover

This is a true cross border cover going from Westport, N.Y. to Lacolle, Quebec (Lower Canada).

The "10" marking was applied at Westport and the "U.States" in arc was applied at Plattsburgh, NY, an exchange post office. Since there is no paid marking the letter was sent unpaid and the "6" marking was applied Montreal to show "6 pence" due.

There are backstamps from Plattsburgh (Sep 13) and Montreal (Sp 13 / 1853)

1 day from Westport (my hometown) t0 Montreal; a distance of 100 miles. Not bad considering the date. Today the same mail can take from 3-7 days or longer.

Odgensburgh "Cross-Border" NOT!

This cover originated in the "OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT" of the Northern Ogdensburg Railway in the early 1850s. Even with only the embossed corner card, the cover would be a good addition to a collection. However, it has a number of pluses which all add up to a fantastic cover:

(1) nice handstamps of "PAID" and "3" showing the rate that went into effect on July 1, 1851.

(2) red circular date stamp from Odgensburgh

BUT, here are the bonuses:

(3) For some reason, the cover was originally rated as going to Canada. That's why there is a "10" handstamp: to pay the 10c rate to Canada. But it was going to Boston instead and, it seems that the postal clerk realized that and canceled the 10 marking with the 7 bar circle in black. The 7 bar circle was initially sent to post offices that received the 1st issue of US postage stamps in 1847.

(4) Under the postal agreement between the USA and Canada beginning in April 1851, each country would stamp its mail with the country name. In this case the postal clerk used a red "U.States" in ribbon marking.

Finally:

(5) companies such as the Railway that sent a lot of mail sometimes has accounts with the post office. Even though postmasters were not supposed to do it, many kept such accounts. That's the reason for "Charge N. RR" manuscript at the upper right.

A wonderful addition to my Cross Border Collection

Two Early County Cancels

Here are two very early county cancels from New York state. If you've read some of my previous posts you know that I am very interested in county cancels.

Little Falls is in Herkimer County and was established on December 1, 1802 and is still in operation today. For a brief period in 1850-1852 it was called Rockton.

This is an interesting cover beside the county cancel. It was sent from Little Falls (December 14, 1830) to Saybrook Connecticut where it was then forwarded (December 23, 1830) to another post office. Which post office is not apparent, but there is a light Saybrook red cancel at the bottom near the Little Falls cancel. The forwarding was local because only 6c was charged. At this time 6c was for distances under 30 miles. So the total postage on the letter was 24 3/4c, an usual rate.

Newark in Wayne County was originally established in Ontario County (July 20, 1822). On April 11, 1823, the New York state legislature erected Wayne County. The post office is still in operation.

It's very unusual to see the county name in a circular date stamp at this early date. The cancel reminds me of the attached rate cancels that were also used around this time in many post offices in New York and New England.

Ovid Maltese Cross

Just after I wrote the previous post about the Star in Star from Forest Glen, this little item from Ovid, Seneca County arrived in my mail.

I find this item fascinating for a number of other reasons: 1. The beautiful purple ink, 2. The double circle in the townmark, and 3. The well defined double maltese cross.

Ovid was established in 1815 and is still in operation. For a few months in 1814, the post office was called Seneca. (Smith and Kay, page. 304, 1980)

Star in Star Killer

Continuing with the theme of New York State County Postmarks here's an interesting one from Forest Glen (Ulster County). This is a fairly early use in the post office history since it was established on September 21, 1882. Forest Glen was discontinued on September 15, 1930 with mail going to New Paltz (Smith and Kay, p. 342, 1980).

However, I find it more interesting if you look at the star killer. Since it's probably early in the life of the cancel, the cancel is still fairly distinct. Notice that there is a small star inside the larger star. With cancels such as this as the years go by with lots of use, such details disappear.

New York Mills County Postmark

One of the more interesting areas of research and collecting is post office cancels with the name of the county in the cancel. In a large state such as New York, adding the county name in the cancel would aid the recipient to add the name of the name of the county in any reply. This was helpful to postal workers who depended on their knowledge of counties to decide which mail bag a letter would go ito.

These were mainly used in the 1870s and 1880s just before the Post Office Department began to try to standardized postal cancels.

But there are some examples from the earlier part of the 19th Century.

Here is the discovery copy from the Oneida County village of New York Mills. New York Mills is just south of Utica and was established on December 8, 1832 and is still in operation today.

The stampless letter is dated January 1, 1833 very early in the operation of the post office. The rate is 12 1/2c for postage to Auburn, NY. This is the rate for 80 to 150 miles under the postal act effective May 1, 1816 which remained in effect until June 30, 1845.