(Santa Cruz) Santa Cruz Cal, Feb 25. Manuscript postmark and "12½" manuscript rate marking on stampless folded letter address leaf (no letter) to California Secretary of State William Van Voorhies in San Jose, some surface wear affecting the address area, F.-V.F. Estimate  $200 - 300. This folded letter is the basis for the February 25, 1850, listing in Williams of the earliest known Santa Cruz manuscript postmark in the Branciforte County period. Branciforte County was renamed Santa Cruz County on April 5, 1850. An 1850 year date for this folded letter was inferred from the rate and the addressee and destination. However, on those bases, this February 25 postmark may well date from either 1850 or 1851. The 12½¢ Pacific Coast rate remained in effect until July 1, 1851. San Jose was California's pre-statehood and first state capital, but both the 1850 and 1851 sessions of the California legislature met there. The capital was not moved officially to Vallejo until January 5, 1852 (and thence to Benicia in 1853 and finally to Sacramento in 1854).William Van Voorhies, prior to becoming California's first Secretary of State, was the Postmaster General's first Special Postal Agent in California. He established the first official Post Offices in California at Monterey and San Francisco in February of 1849.Docketed on reverse "Guadalupe Castro in relation to Laws." Castro was the son of José Joaquín Castro (1768?1838), who after serving as a soldier for the Mexican Army for 13 years, came to settle the new community of Villa de Branciforte in 1798. In 1833, José Castro received a 2 square league (8,911 acres) land grant from Governor José Figueroa. $0 (Image)