The Steven C. Walske Collection of Special Mail Routes of the American Civil War continued...

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FRESH AND VERY FINE. ONE OF THREE RECORDED EXAMPLES OF THE NASHVILLE CIRCULAR "PAID 5" PROVISIONAL HANDSTAMP ON AN ACROSS-THE-LINES EXPRESS COVER. THE ONLY COVER WITH ALL MARKINGS ON THE FACE.

Of the 31 recorded North-to-South covers carried by American Letter Express Co., only three have the "Nashville T. Paid 5" provisional handstamp. Those put into the mails at Nashville usually have the "Paid" straightline in combination with "5" or "10" rate handstamps.

Special Routes Census No. S-AX-12. Ex Ackerman, Knapp, Grant, Meroni and Everett. (Image)

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FRESH AND VERY FINE. ONE OF THREE RECORDED EXAMPLES OF THE NASHVILLE CIRCULAR "PAID 5" PROVISIONAL HANDSTAMP ON AN ACROSS-THE-LINES EXPRESS COVER. THIS COVER BEARS THE RARER NASHVILLE OFFICE MARKING.

Of the 31 recorded North-to-South covers carried by American Letter Express Co., only three have the "Nashville T. Paid 5" provisional handstamp. Those put into the mails at Nashville usually have the "Paid" straightline in combination with "5" or "10" rate handstamps. It is also an extremely rare example of the American Letter Express Co. Nashville office datestamp.

Special Routes Census No. S-AX-6. Ex MacBride (Image)

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VERY FINE. AN ATTRACTIVE AMERICAN LETTER EXPRESS COMPANY COVER FROM THE NORTH TO A MILITARY ADDRESS IN THE SOUTH.

Assistant Surgeon Groves, to whom this cover was delivered, was moved from Union City to Winchester Va. to treat casualties from engagements with Federal troops in the Shenandoah Valley during mid-July 1861.

Special Routes Census No. S-AX-14. Illustrated in Shenfield book (p. 25). Ex Kimmel and Gallagher. With 1976 P.F. certificate (Image)

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EXTREMELY FINE. A RARE AMERICAN LETTER EXPRESS COVER WITH AN UNUSUALLY CLEAR STRIKE OF THE BLUE CIRCULAR HANDSTAMP.

Special Routes Census No. S-AX-22 (illustrated on p. 57). Illustrated in Shenfield book (p. 26). Ex Kimmel. With 1976 P.F. certificate (Image)

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FINE. VERY FEW CIVIL WAR ACROSS-THE-LINES EXPRESS COVERS ARE KNOWN WITH THE BROADSIDE LABELS STILL AFFIXED. AN IMPORTANT AND EXHIBIT-WORTHY AMERICAN LETTER EXPRESS COMPANY COVER.

The "Letters Going North" labels were affixed to or enclosed in envelopes addressed to the South. They provided instructions for sending letters north.

Special Routes Census No. S-AX-16. Ex D. Preston Peters and Kilbourne (Image)

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VERY FINE. AN OUTSTANDING SOUTHBOUND THRU-THE LINES EXPRESS COVER THAT ORIGINATED IN EUROPE AND WAS CARRIED BY THE AMERICAN LETTER EXPRESS COMPANY FROM LOUISVILLE TO NASHVILLE .

Based on the "Pay postage 30c" notation on the enclosure, we can surmise that the original letter was mailed from Europe to the United States. Apparently it was directed to Winston & Johnston, who are listed in the 1861 Williams' Cincinnati directory ("WINSTON & JOHNSTON, John P. W. & AVm. B.J., Wholesale Dry Goods, 113 W. Pearl"). John P. Winston arranged to have the American Letter Express Company carry the letter across the lines to Nashville, where it entered the C.S.A. mails for Richmond. The addressee, Mrs. Elizabeth Ann Valentine Gray, was the daughter of Mann S. Valentine and the wife of William Gray. Later in the war, letters were sent by blockade runners from Europe to Mann S. Valentine, Elizabeth A. V. Gray and William Gray.

Special Routes Census No. S-AX-26. (Image)

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EXTREMELY FINE. THIS IS BY FAR THE FINER OF THE TWO RECORDED EXAMPLES OF AMERICAN LETTER EXPRESS COMPANY'S "JENKINS AND McGILL" HANDSTAMP USED BY THE NASHVILLE OFFICE. ONE OF THE MOST ATTRACTIVE AND DESIRABLE OF ALL CIVIL WAR ACROSS-THE-LINES EXPRESS COVERS.

The American Letter Express Company was created by William M. McGill, a former United States mail carrier (Brown & McGill, Louisville), and Thomas E. Jenkins. Financing for the new mail-carrying venture was provided by a prominent Louisville merchant, Nathan Bloom, who arranged for the articles of incorporation in Kentucky and Tennessee (June 28, 1861). Of the various markings used by the American Letter Express Company, the "Jenkins and McGill" circle is by far the rarest. This is the only recorded completely-struck example (two recorded).

Information about the addressee, Captain Fayette (Lafayette) Hewitt, can be found at http://www.touretown.com/pdf/soldiersburied.pdf: "Captain Fayette Hewitt (1831-1909). Headed the Hardin County Academy from the age of 18-20, at which time he established the Elizabethtown Independent School. In 1857 he accepted the position of Postmaster General in Washington D.C. until the Republicans took office. At the request of the new Confederate government, he then undertook the job of establishing the Confederate post office in Montgomery, Alabama. After this task was successfully accomplished, he asked for a field position. In February of 1863 he was assigned to General Breckinridge's command, where he served as Captain of the 6th Kentucky Infantry Regiment. Three horses were shot out from under him during the war and although never wounded, minie balls passed through his hat and clothes numerous times. Captain Hewitt returned to Elizabethtown in 1865, where he continued to improve the school system and practice law. In 1867 he was appointed Quartermaster-General of Kentucky. Two years later he was elected state auditor. His last public office was president of the state bank in Frankfort. He remained active in retirement and at his death was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Confederate Home at Pee Wee Valley."

Special Routes Census No. S-AX-21 (illustrated on p. 58). Illustrated in Shenfield book (p. 25). Ex Emerson (acquired by him in the J. C. Morgenthau Oct. 1924 sale), Knapp (with his note on back "Never saw another"), Richey, Antrim and Kilbourne (Image)

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