folded letter to New York City datelined "Hudson Nov 18 1794", two-line "Hudson. Nov 13." datestamp and manuscript "Free", very fine, the Van Wyck Stage line that had a monopoly on mail from Albany to New York City from 1785 to 1795, with Hudson being added as a stage stop in 1794
This letter was sent free using the franking privilege for postmasters per the Act of 1792, although was an improper use of the franking privilege by the sender (Cotton Gelson, the first postmaster of Hudson) since the folded letter did not pertain to post office business.