Auction Detail

black two-line handstamp with matching straightline "Free." on folded letter to New York City, endorsed "free Ez. Williams Jr.", light edge wear, very fine early free frank, Ezekiel Williams, Jr. served as Hartford's postmaster for a brief time in 1794 and again from 1795 until 1803

black two-line handstamp with two strikes of matching "Paid." on large folded lettersheet to Philadelphia, manuscript "3½oz 238" or $2.38 postage, very fine, apparently used as a wrapper for a bundle of legal papers, the single-sheet rate from Hartford to Philadelphia was 17c and packets were charged by weight at quadruple the single sheet letter rate, therefore the $2.38 postage is equivalent to 3½ ounces times four times 17c, a rare rating

small group of folded letters begins with 1778 manuscript cancel, 1782 cover datelined Hartford but with no town mark, three covers with the "Hartford*." rimless postmark all from 1795, and seven covers with two-line Hartford datestamp used from 1796 to 1797, small faults to be expected but generally fine to very fine, a wonderful assortment of these scarce early postmarks, idea for the specialist

rimless circular datestamp (manuscript month and day) and matching "12" war rate on printed tax notice to Meriden, Connecticut, very fine, sent just six days into the new war rate

black rimless datestamp (manuscript date) on folded letter to Canandaigua, New York, manuscript "30" war rate, very fine