The William H. Gross Collection: 1847 and 1851-56 Issues continued...

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VERY FINE. AN EXTRAORDINARY USE OF THE DEMONETIZED 5-CENT 1847 ISSUE TO PAY THE 3-CENT RATE FROM NEW YORK TO OHIO ON A HOTEL ADVERTISING COVER. THE "NEW-YORK" CIRCULAR DATESTAMP WAS NEVER STRUCK IN BLACK DURING THE PERIOD WHEN THE 1847 ISSUE WAS VALID.

The Alexander census (Chronicle 174) lists another cover with the same hotel design and same addressee, dated October 2, 1851. It is interesting that the sender knew enough about the new postage rates to use a 5c stamp rather than 10c stamp for the old over-300 miles rate, and successfully used the worthless 5c stamp to evade paying 3c postage.

Signed Ashbrook. Ex Hart and Boker (Image)

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VERY FINE. THE ONLY RECORDED 1847 ISSUE POST-DEMONETIZATION COVER WITH THE "U.S. EXPRESS MAIL" ROUTE AGENT'S CIRCULAR DATESTAMP. A FRESH AND ATTRACTIVE COVER OF THE GREATEST RARITY.

The recent Alexander census of post-demonetization 1847 covers (Chronicle 174) lists 69 examples, including this sole example of the U.S. Express Mail route agent's marking.

Signed Ashbrook. Ex Stark, Hart and Boker. (Image)

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VERY FINE. A SPECTACULAR POST-DEMONETIZATION ATTEMPTED USE OF THE 1847 ISSUE TO PAY THE 10-CENT TRANS-CONTINENTAL RATE FROM NEW YORK CITY TO A WELL-KNOWN NAVAL OFFICER AT SAN FRANCISCO.

This 1847 Issue cover has a number of remarkable aspects to it, which past students of postal history have struggled to completely understand. We hope to explain it accurately in the context of biographical and historical information, starting with the addressee.

Richard W. Meade III (1837-1897), also known as Richard W. Meade Jr., was a prominent U.S. naval officer who attained the rank of Rear Admiral in 1894. Meade started his service in 1856 and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant on January 28, 1858. Meade was an officer on the USS Saranac and sloop-of-war Cyane in the Pacific Squadron from 1859 to 1861, during which period this cover was mailed to him in San Francisco on August 21, 1860. Lieutenant Meade returned to the East Coast in mid-1861 and was hospitalized due to a severe tropical illness.

After his recovery, with the Civil War raging, Lieutenant Meade became a gunnery instructor. In January 1862 he became executive officer of the USS Dacotah and later held the same position on the gunboat Conemaugh. Lieutenant Meade's Civil War record was distinguished, and he earned an excellent post-war reputation as a technologically-savvy reformer. After serving at the U.S. Naval Academy from 1865 to 1868, Meade was promoted to Commander, and in April 1868 he led an exploring expedition along the Alaskan coast as commanding officer of the USS Saginaw. He returned to Mare Island after a year or so. It is during this period that Commander Meade would have received the cover offered here, based on the notation "This letter has followed you to Alaska."

In addition to the "Alaska" notation, the other notation on the back -- "Found in ded letter Box -- A. F. Gomez" -- provides an important clue to the timing of final delivery. It was written by Antonio F. Gomez (1836-1911), a clerk in the United States Navy Pay Office, located at 202 Sansome Street. Gomez' biography can be found at http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=3528067. According to this source: "Gomez was a Parsee, the son of an Indian prince of the province of Punjab, and was born in Lahore in 1837. He left India at the age of 12 and went to London. He was given an education in that city and in 1860 made his home in Brooklyn, N. Y. Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, who took the young man in hand and was training him for the ministry, changed his name from Conjee Rustumjee Cohoujee Bey to Anthony Frank Gomez. In 1863 Gomez entered the navy and served for two years during the Civil War. He came to San Francisco in 1867 and has been in the employ of the government ever since" (boldface for emphasis).

Therefore, the notation by Gomez could not have been written before 1867. It was not applied at the post office, but was written by Gomez at the U.S. Navy Pay Office. This cover and its contents were probably put inside a U.S. Navy Department envelope and sent to Commander Meade wherever he could be located during his tour of duty in Alaska.

Reconstructing the events, the cover was mailed from New York City with an old 10c 1847 stamp affixed at the upper right, but the 10c postage was paid by the current 1857 Issue stamps subsequently applied at upper left. It was carried on the August 21, 1860, sailing of the North Star, which arrived at Aspinwall on August 29. After crossing the Isthmus, it was carried by the Uncle Sam, which sailed from Panama on August 30 and arrived at San Francisco on September 14 (San Francisco Bulletin, September 14, 1860). Lieutenant Meade was unable to receive the letter in San Francisco, and it was advertised on June 11, 1861, at which point he had returned to the East Coast. After going unclaimed, the cover was put into the San Francisco Dead Letter Office and remained there for at least six years, at which point the U.S. Navy Pay Office clerk, Antonio F. Gomez, retrieved it and arranged to have it delivered to Meade, now in command of the USS Saginaw, sailing the Arctic waters off the coast of Alaska. Recognizing the amazing seven or eight-year journey this piece of mail took, someone wrote "This letter has followed you to Alaska."

Illustrated in Baker's U.S. Classics (p. 144). Ex Ishikawa. (Image)

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VERY FINE APPEARANCE. ONE OF THE FINEST POST-DEMONETIZATION 1847 ISSUE COVERS EXTANT. ONLY FOUR COVERS FROM BOSTON ARE RECORDED IN THE ALEXANDER CENSUS.

The recent Alexander census of post-demonetization 1847 covers (Chronicle 174) lists 69 examples, including four from Boston (this is the latest from that city).

Ex Jack Dick and Boker. P.F. certificate 39621 no longer accompanies (Image)

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FINE. A RARE ATTEMPTED USE OF THE 1847 ISSUE ALMOST ONE YEAR AFTER IT WAS DEMONETIZED, WHICH WAS REJECTED AS VALID POSTAGE.

After July 1, 1851 the postage rate was lowered to 3c for distances up to 3,000 miles. The Philadelphia marking, with the bold "5cts" of the integral-rate circular datestamp so clearly struck, indicates that the stamp was not accepted as postage.

Ex Hart, Craveri and Hackmey. With 1965 P.F. certificate. (Image)

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VERY FINE APPEARANCE. A RARE DEMONETIZED USE OF THE 5-CENT 1847 FROM PHILADELPHIA.

The 1847 Issue was demonetized when the new 1851 Issue was released on July 1, however, based on surviving examples, major post offices evidently tolerated sporadic late use of 1847 stamps, at least for a period of time. This cover shows the 5c cancelled by the Philadelphia datestamp in black, a color of ink used only after 1851. The earliest possible date of use is October 22, 1852, long after demonetization. The recent Alexander census of post-demonetization 1847 covers (Chronicle 174) lists 69 examples, including four from Philadelphia.

Illustrated in U.S. Classics Society Silver Anniversary Booklet (p. 30) and Baker's U.S. Classics (p. 180). Ex Gibson, Hart and Boker. (Image)

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VERY FINE. AN EXTREMELY RARE USE OF THE 1847 ISSUE ON A COVER SENT FROM AN ARMY MEDICAL OFFICER LOCATED AT FORT UNION IN NEW MEXICO TERRITORY TO HIS FAMILY IN MARYLAND -- CARRIED BY MILITARY COURIER AND PLACED INTO THE MAILS AT WASHINGTON D.C., WHERE THE DEMONETIZED 5-CENT STAMP WAS FORGIVINGLY ACCEPTED AS PREPAYMENT.

Fort Union was established in July 1851, several miles north of the junction of the two main branches of the Santa Fe Trail. Military supplies shipped from Fort Leavenworth and St. Louis crossed the plains on the Santa Fe Trail and were stored at the Fort Union depot, where they were distributed to other posts in the Southwest. Dr. Thomas A. McParlin served as the first U.S. Army Surgeon at Fort Union.

The census of post-demonetization 1847 Issue covers by Thomas A. Alexander (Chronicle 174) lists two covers from Fort Union. One is listed under New Mexico, and the one offered here under Washington D.C. Although this was postmarked at Washington D.C., it is obvious that the 5c stamp was affixed by Dr. McParlin in Fort Union.

Ex Worthington, Ackerman (red label on back), Gibson, Sampson (backstamp), Rust and Boker. (Image)

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