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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folded letter addressed to Paterson, New Jersey, datelined "Newark Nov 10 1841", endorsed "per Stage", very fine, this letter was carried out of the mails to Patterson via Belleville and Aquakanonck, letter reads in part "I have concluded to send by the Paterson Stage a few trifles for your pantry" suggesting that this letter was carried by the Paterson Stage Line rather than the Newark Stage Line or Belleville Stage Line
1847 folded letter to Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, "New Lisbon O. Jan 23" datestamp, letter contents pertain to a lawsuit brought against the Pioneer Fast Stage line, letter is folded to display quote: "And Further I want you to look among the papers and letters of Silas Moore for all letters relative to the Pioneer Line of Stages from Zadok Street, Henry Mail, John Diver, or D & S Watson, and send them to me immediately by mail, as I think from them I may get some testimony", very fine and interesting
This line ran from Cleveland to Pittsburgh with stops at Bedford, Hudson, Ravenna, Deerfield, Salem, and New Lisbon on to Wellsville on the Ohio River. At Wellsville, passengers were met by steamboats which conveyed them to Pittsburgh. The one-way trip took 30 hours. In January 1847, suit was brought against the stage line for failure to pay for horses and failure to account to stockholders for way fees.
folded letter dated January 11, 1841 to Philadelphia, black "Bridgeton N.J. Jan 12" double circle datestamp, manuscript "10" rate, very fine, postscript in the letter reads: "You had better forward papers by mail–new district orders having prohibited the stage drivers from carrying any letters sealed or unsealed" (reflecting recent governmental efforts to prevent private companies from carrying mail without a contract)
This stage line left Hall’s Tavern in Bridgeton on the Cohansey River for Philadelphia via Deerfield and Cooper’s Ferry. At Cooper’s Ferry, it connected with the Philadelphia stage boat.
1811 folded letter to Somerville, New Jersey, red "New-York Aug 14" datestamp, manuscript "10" rate, endorsed "Swiftsure", very fine, this is one of five reported covers endorsed with the Swift Sure name, ex-Kramer
The Swift-Sure Stage Line commenced business on June 28, 1799, running stages daily between New York City and Philadelphia along the shorter Old York Road route as a quicker alternative to the Burlington Stage and the Bordentown Stage lines. In 1807, the Old York Road route was declared a post road by Congress. On April 28, 1810, the Swift Sure Line received the mail contract for this route. The Line held the mail contract until 1837 when the contract was given to the railroad. Swift-Sure advertised being the fastest of the passenger stage coaches, making the journey in around 30 hours.
1819 folded letter addressed to Somerville, New Jersey, oval "Newark New Jersey Mar 16", manuscript "6" rate, endorsed "Swiftsure Mail", staining at bottom right, otherwise very fine, this is one of five reported covers that bears the Swift-Sure name
undated cover addressed to Townville, Pennsylvania, "Carver House General Stage Office" corner card, endorsed "at Tryonville station agt hand this to them when they come along", very fine
undated cover to Norfolk, Virginia, "Edenton N.C. July" circular datestamp and "Paid 3" in circle handstamp, ornate corner card advertising the stage office, very fine
folded letter datelined "Pleasant Retreat Nov 29 1845", addressed to the Lewis, Kentucky, blue "Nashville Te. Dec 1" datestamp and matching "5" in cog rate, endorsed "Stage", very fine, as the Pleasant Retreat post office wouldn't open until 1852 this letter was carried privately by stage to Nashville, where it entered the mails
1852 folded letter sheet addressed to stage agent in Nashville, Tennessee, "Lawrenceburg Tenn Feb 8" datestamp with manuscript "5" rate, folded to display contents, very fine
This letter reads: "The stage line from the city of Nashville to Florence leaves this place every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 2 o'clock p.m. for Florence Ala. and the same line leaves here every Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday at 2 o'clock in the morning for Nashville. This line is a four-horse coach line and is the only stage through this place"
folded letter dated December 28, 1831 addressed to Georgetown, South Carolina, manuscript "Way 11" (10c postage due plus 1c way fee), endorsed "Pr Wilton Stage", fine, this cover was most likely given to a stage driver near the Willtown Plantation along the stage route (with the endorsement "Wilton" being a phonetic misspelling), this origination would correctly place the cover within 30-80 miles of Georgetown indicative of the 10c due rate
11 covers from the late-18th and early-19th Centuries, most endorsed "By Stage", "Per Stage", or with a way marking, also 1857 3c on cover with "Gould House, Valparaiso, Indiana" cornercard advertising stage services, some faults to be expected but generally fine to very fine, an interesting group which would lend itself well to further research and investigation
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approximately 75 covers many of which are written up on exhibit pages, adhesives including LO2 on cover with 26 from Washington (untied), LO2 tied on local Cincinnati cover, 1LB2, 1LB8, 1LB9, 3LB2 (2), 6LB5, and 6LB10 (faults), as well as various markings including a New Orleans blue snow shovel and "Car.2" in oval, New York red "City Despatch Post" circle, Philadelphia black "U.S. Penny Mail" octagon, also covers from Richmond and St. Louis, a huge variety of uses including from-the-mails, to-the-mails, drop letters, etc., some faults to be expected but mostly fine or better, an extraordinary foundational collection for someone looking to learn more about carrier service in the mid-19th Century, Mr. Roth's accompanying notes take away a lot of the guesswork and provide a fantastic starting point for further research, we highly recommend viewing scans of the entire collection on our website