"On His Majesty's Service" [1717], manuscript endorsement on folded letter datelined "Hartford August 2 1717", addressed to New London, Connecticut, very fine, one of the earliest letters from Hartford in private hands, the sender, Captain William Pitkin III, would later become Deputy Governor (1754-1766) and Governor (1766-1769) of Connecticut, mail marked "On His Majesty's Service" were either handled by military courier or sent by the post and reimbursed by the government (Image)

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Hartford [1776], manuscript postmark on folded letter to Jeremiah Wadsworth in New York City, datelined Hartford August 18, 1776, originally rated "2.16" (2dwt 16gr) in Hartford but rerated "5.8" double weight in New York and marked "2/6" local currency equivalent, very fine early Congress Post letter (Image)

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"Hartford 16th Aug't 1777", manuscript notation on pay order signed by Ezekiel Williams and Oliver Ellsworth, ordering 9sh payment to John Lawrence, both Ellsworth and Williams served on Connecticut's Committee of the Pay-Table during the Revolutionary War, very fine, Ellsworth would go on to serve as a senator and the third chief justice of the United States (Image)

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Hartford Sept 28 [1782], manuscript postmark with matching "2.16" rate (2dwt, 16gr) alongside on folded letter to Colonel Samuel Ward in East Greenwich, Connecticut, light toning along filefolds, very fine Continental Congress Post letter, Samuel Ward, Jr. participated in Benedict Arnold's attack on Quebec and later saw action at the Battles of Red Bank and Rhode Island, in 1781 he retired and later served as a delegate to the Hartford Convention in 1814 (Image)

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Hartford Sept.9 [1787], black straightline postmark on large part folded lettersheet to New Haven, red straightline "Paid." and manuscript "2.16" rate, small repair at top center, very fine strike, the only recorded example of this postmark according to the Duffney census, one of the key items for an early Connecticut collection (Image)

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pd. Hartford Nov. 11. paid 12½ [1792], manuscript postmark on folded letter to New York City, very fine, letter from Thomas Seymour who served as the first mayor of Hartford from 1774 until 1812 (Image)

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Hart*d May 11 [1793], bold black datestamp on folded letter to New York City, manuscript "12½" rate, very fine, the earliest recorded use of this postmark and one of just 10 recorded (Image)

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Hart*d Dec 18 [1793], black datestamp with matching straightline "Paid" and manuscript "8" rate on folded letter to New Haven, very fine example of this scarce postmark with just 10 examples known, letter written by Revolutionary War veteran John Chester who served as Supervisor of the United States Department of Revenue for the District of Connecticut (Image)

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Hart*d M*h 2 [1794], black straightline datestamp with matching "Free" (second manuscript "Free" alongside) on large folded letter to the "Hon. Dwight Foster Esquire, member of Congress, Philadelphia", light wear along left edge, otherwise very fine, the earliest recorded free frank from Hartford, Foster was a representative from Massachusetts (Image)

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Hartford.* A.T 12 [1794], perfect strike of black rimless datestamp on folded lettersheet from Jeremiah Wadsworth to Benjamin Walker in New York City, manuscript "12½" rate, extremely fine and choice, the earliest recorded use of this postmark which predates the listing in the American Stampless Cover Catalogue by 18 years and arguably the finest strike of Hartford's early rimless circular datestamp (Image)

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Hartford. Sept. 6. [1796], bold strike of two-line datestamp on folded letter to Richmond, Virginia, matching straightline "Paid." and manuscript "50" rate, very fine and attractive double rate letter, this postmark was used between 1796 and 1798 (Image)

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Hartford. Sept. 25. [1796], attractive strike of two-line datestamp on folded letter from Jeremiah Wadsworth to Captain Nehemiah Hubbard in Middletown, Connecticut, manuscript "6" rate, very fine, Wadsworth was a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1788 and a United States Representative from 1789 to 1795, Hubbard was a sea captain and veteran of the Revolutionary War who became first president of the Middletown Savings Bank (Image)

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Hartford Dec. 21. [1796], black two-line datestamp on folded letter to Providence, Rhode Island, manuscript "10" rate, forwarded on January 6 with "Providence" straightline postmark to Litchfield, Connecticut via Hartford with additional "12½" rate (for a total 22½c due), endorsed "Postmaster at Hartford is requested to forward this the first opportunity", very fine and early forwarded letter (Image)

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Hartford Feb 3. [1797], black two-line handstamp with matching straightline "Free." on folded letter to New York City, endorsed "free Ez. Williams Jr.", light edge wear, very fine early free frank, Ezekiel Williams, Jr. served as Hartford's postmaster for a brief time in 1794 and again from 1795 until 1803 (Image)

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Hartford At8 [1797], black two-line handstamp on folded letter to Branford, Connecticut, manuscript "Way 9" rating, very fine, this letter was processed by the Hartford post office and collected along the Boston Post Road, 9c paying the 8c postage plus 1c way letter fee, the earliest way letter recorded for Hartford (Image)

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Hartford Mar 14. [1798], black two-line handstamp with two strikes of matching "Paid." on large folded lettersheet to Philadelphia, manuscript "3½oz 238" or $2.38 postage, very fine, apparently used as a wrapper for a bundle of legal papers, the single-sheet rate from Hartford to Philadelphia was 17c and packets were charged by weight at quadruple the single sheet letter rate, therefore the $2.38 postage is equivalent to 3½ ounces times four times 17c, a rare rating (Image)

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Hartford Apr. 6. [1798], black two-line datestamp on folded letter to William Meredith in Philadelphia, matching straightline "Paid" and manuscript "34" rate, very fine strike and cover, ex-Weill (Image)

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Hartford Postal History Group to 1800, small group of folded letters begins with 1778 manuscript cancel, 1782 cover datelined Hartford but with no town mark, three covers with the "Hartford*." rimless postmark all from 1795, and seven covers with two-line Hartford datestamp used from 1796 to 1797, small faults to be expected but generally fine to very fine, a wonderful assortment of these scarce early postmarks, idea for the specialist (Image)

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Hartford.* Jul 17 [1800], rimless black datestamp on folded letter to Taunton, Massachusetts, manuscript "12½" rate, straightline "Boston" transit July 21, fine, unusual with two city handstamps, ex-O'Connor (Image)

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Hartford.* Feb 6 [1815], rimless circular datestamp (manuscript month and day) and matching "12" war rate on printed tax notice to Meriden, Connecticut, very fine, sent just six days into the new war rate (Image)

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Hartford.* Feb 24 [1815], black rimless datestamp (manuscript month and date) on folded letter to New Haven, Connecticut, manuscript "12" war rate, very fine, the letter's writer, Elisha Phelps, went on to serve as a Representative from Connecticut (1819-21, 1825-29) while its recipient, William Bristol, was United States District Attorney for Connecticut (1817 and mayor of New Haven (1827) (Image)

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Hartford.* July 15 [1815], black rimless datestamp (manuscript date) on folded letter to Canandaigua, New York, manuscript "30" war rate, very fine (Image)

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Hartford.* Sep 24 [1815], black rimless datestamp (manuscript date) on folded letter to Bristol, Rhode Island, manuscript "15" war rate, very fine (Image)

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Hartford.* Oct. 21 [1815], rimless circular datestamp (manuscript date) with matching "18¾" war rate on folded letter to Newburyport, Massachusetts, fine and scarce (Image)

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Hartford Rimless Postmark Study 1800-1815, 36 folded letters, very nearly all of which with Hartford's early rimless "Hartford.*" datestamp, couple albino strikes, black straightline "Paid." and "Free", various rates represented, generally fine to very fine strikes, this was one of the most prolific postmarks of early Hartford and therefore this group could form the nice basis for an in-depth study, much of interest to the postal historian (Image)

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