Auction Detail
Fall Postal History 2022
Our Fall 2022 Postal History sale includes the John D. Bowman Collection of Boyd's City Express Post, the William B. Robinson Collection of Wisconsin Postal History, material from the collections of Steven M. Roth and Graham Booth, FRPSL, and much more.
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1796 folded letter to Philadelphia datelined "Allentown Aug't 16 96", endorsed "By stage" at lower left and "B" on reverse, overall wear and toning, still fine appearance
The Burlington Stage Line and The Bordentown & New York Stage Line competed at this time over the same route. Normally, it would be impossible to tell which stage line carried this letter because of the absence of some notation on the cover, but in this case the contents mention “Mr. Shore’s Boat, Burlington”. The letter is endorsed “B” which possibly refers to the Philadelphia/Burlington Stage Boat since the letter “B” commonly was used to reference travel of mail by water.
undated cover addressed to "near Medford N.J.", endorsed "Care of Medford Stage Man", very fine, ex-Hahn
folded letter sheet addressed to Philadelphia, datelined "Cumberland N Jersey July 5th 1790" and endorsed "Stage", very fine, this cover was carried via stage from Cumberland to Cooper's Ferry (present day Camden), where the stage boarded the Philadelphia stage boat for carriage across the Delaware River to Philadelphia
folded letter to Baltimore, Maryland datelined "Elk July 12 1770", endorsed "p. Stage", very fine, the first post office in Head of Elk (now Elkton) wouldn't open until 1776
1787 folded letter sheet to Philadelphia with straightline "Baltimore Dec. 2" datestamp, very fine
In September 1785, Congress instructed the Postmaster General to establish contract stage coach routes from Portsmouth, Maine to Savannah, Georgia. After a reluctant start, in 1787 Postmaster General Hazard entered into contracts with stage lines to service both main post routes and many cross-routes. One such route covered the mail from Philadelphia to Baltimore, in both directions, and involved the use of a stage boat to cross the Delaware River. The contract for this stage route was held by Messrs. Inslip & Cumming, who also held the contract to carry the mail between New York City and Philadelphia. Under the Philadelphia to Baltimore contract, Inslip & Cumming were required to make five trips per week in each direction.
1788 folded letter originating in Scotland and addressed to Philadelphia, straightline "New York nov 4" datestamp, manuscript "1.8" rate, bit damaged after such a long journey but still fine appearanceThis cover was carried to the United States from Scotland by private ship, entering the United States mails at New York. The mail from New York arrived in Philadelphia via stage every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The stages made their way to Indian Queen Tavern at 15 South Fourth Street and the George Tavern on the corner of Second and Mulberry Streets before finally going on to the Philadelphia Post Office.
1795 folded letter to Philadelphia, straightline "N York Mrh 28" datestamp, manuscript "20" rate and endorsed "Double Letter", very fine, the Inslip & Cumming Stage Line had a contract for mail between New York and Philadelphia during this time, with mail arriving in New York every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday
folded letter to Camden, New Jersey datelined "Marlton January 10 1841", endorsed "Care of J. Garner Stage Driver", very fine
Based on the admonition, it appears that the sender of this cover left it for the stage driver at some place of convenience (for example, an inn or a store). The cover then was carried out-of-the-mails to its destination, Camden. The United States mail offered service on this route, but the sender chose to send the cover via the independent stage carrier.
folded letter to Camden, New Jersey (formerly Cooper's Ferry), datelined "Moorestown July 22 1846", endorsed "per Stage", very fine
folded letter to Morrisville, Pennsylvania datelined "Philadelphia April 24th 1822", endorsed "by Stage", very fine, this cover would likely have traveled directly from Morrisville to Philadelphia (a distance of just 32 miles), although no record of such a route has been found
three 1797 folded letters from the same correspondence sent from Mount Holly, New Jersey to Philadelphia, each endorsed "Care of the Stage", fine to very fine
These folded letters were carried from Mount Holly by stage to Cooper’s Ferry. At Cooper’s Ferry, the stage was placed aboard the stage boat and ferried across the Delaware River to Philadelphia at the foot of Arch Street, not far from the location to where the folded letters were addressed. Several stage lines passed through Mount Holly at this time on the way to Philadelphia so it is not possible to identify which specific stage line carried these letters.
two 1824 folded letters addressed to Mount Holly, New Jersey, originating in Philadelphia, endorsed "by stage", both very fine, several stage companies passed through Philadelphia on the route to Mount Holly, so it is not known what company carried the letters in this correspondence