Auction Detail

single with large to full margins including sheet margin at left and portion of adjacent stamp at right, tied by red "New-York 5cts 16 Sep" datestamp to cover to Weymouth, Massachusetts, light toning along the top edge, otherwise very fine, only four covers are known with the rare New York City Express Post orange adhesive, which was the product of a short-lived and little-known post that existed for several months in mid-1847, a great local post rarity, 2022 Philatelic Foundation certificate (Scott $8,000)

single tied by "Jordan's Penny Post, Saint Louis Sep 24" company datestamp to 1860 blue lined letterset to Tell City, Indiana, US 1851 3c Dull red (26) tied by "Saint Louis Mo. Sep 25 1860" datestamp, extremely fine, one of just a small handful of recorded covers with Squier's Rose brown adhesive and by far the finer of the two that bear additional US postage, a spectacular and important cover, 2022 Philatelic Foundation certificate (Scott $11,500)Squier & Co. began operations in early July 1859, when their first newspaper advertisements started to appear in the St. Louis Missouri Republican. The firm was superseded by Jordan & Company Penny Post Package Express, who continued to accept Squier's stamps. The latest known covers date from the fall of 1860.Provenance: C. Corwith Wagner (John A. Fox, 1957)"D.K." Collection (R.A. Siegel Sale 862, 2003)

manuscript notation on 10c Green Nesbitt entire (U15), "San Francisco Cal Dec 20 1858" datestamp, addressed to "Mrs. Ellen H. Stanton, Care of Lewis Hutchinson, Esq., Pittsburg, Pennsylvania" in the hand of Edwin M. Stanton, carried aboard PMSS steamer J.L. Stephens departing San Francisco December 20 and arriving Acapulco December 28 (eventually reaching New Orleans January 5, 1859), reverse with handwritten note from Lewis Hutchinson, extremely fine, a remarkable historical artifact, 2022 Philatelic Foundation certificate
During the late 1850s there were no fewer than eight different routes a cover could travel between the American coasts. The default was for mail to be carried across the Panamanian isthmus, but a route was established in June of 1858 to carry mail across Mexico via Tehuantepec. This route was about 2,000 miles shorter, but mail had to be clearly endorsed “via Tehuantepec” per post office regulations. After just one year the contract lapsed, as the route generated less than $5,300 in revenue. An unpublished census by Michael Perlman records 24 eastbound covers and five westbound covers.
Edwin Stanton married Ellen Hutchinson (daughter of Lewis Hutchinson) in 1856. Stanton would go on to serve as secretary of war under Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War, and he would lead the manhunt to capture John Wilkes booth after the president’s assassination. It was Andrew Johnson's attempt to dismiss Stanton as Secretary of War that led to that president’s impeachment in 1868. In early 1859, when this envelope was sent, Stanton was nearing the end of a year spent in California at the behest of Attorney General Jeremiah Black to represent the federal government in a series of land disputes arising from the Treaty of Guadeloupe Hidalgo. Although Stanton wrote his wife often she was distraught over his trip to California, particularly as she took care of an infant daughter in poor health.

single tied by blue "Pony Express San Francisco Jun 1" Running Pony handstamp to 10c Green Star die entire (U32), entered the mails with green "St. Joseph Mo. Jun 13" datestamp, addressed to New York City, red and blue flag and cannon patriotic design with "The Union must and shall be preserved" imprint, Hutchings & Rosenfield printers, extremely fine, one of just three recorded Pony Express patriotic envelopes, one of which is the famed cover to Germany, a sister cover to the one offered here (dated June 12) is in the permanent collection of the National Postal Museum, one of the most extraordinary and beautiful pieces of postal history in existence, 2022 Philatelic Foundation certificate, Frajola-Walske-Kramer census #E89

full margins including bottom left sheet margin, on 3c Pink entire (U34), tied by blue “Wells, Fargo & Co. Express Aurora” oval with second strike on indicium, misplaced printed company frank, addressed to San Francisco, very fine stamp and cover (Scott $4,750)