Auction Detail

red datestamp with manuscript "25" rate on 1834 folded letter to New York City, datelined "Blackstone's Grove, Aug 1st, 1834", lengthy contents about life in Chicago, very fine and early personal letter

red datestamp with matching straight-line "Paid" and "25" rate handstamps on 1836 folded letter to Augusta, Maine, vertical filefold away from markings, very fine, this "25" handstamp was the first rate marking used in Chicago and only appears for a short time between August 1836 and March 1837

red datestamp with four-letter month abbreviation and matching "Paid" on 1838 folded letter to Joliet, Illinois, manuscript "Paid 20" rate, two real estate contracts enclosed, letter written and signed by Gurdon S. Hubbard, one of early Chicago's most prominent residents, fine and rare with only two or three examples known of the "Sept" abbreviation

blue datestamp on 1841 folded letter to Sconondoa, New York, blue manuscript "f" (free), very fine, letter from John Calhoun, founder of the Chicago Democrat (Chicago's first newspaper) and later a city councilman

manuscript postmark with blue "Paid" handstamp and manuscript "12½" rate on 1842 folded letter to Koshkonong, Wisconsin Territory, vertical filefolds, very fine, illustrated in Piszkiewicz (page 3)This cover is the only recorded Chicago manuscript postmark from 1842 and one of just two known from the 1840s. It was mailed between the latest known use of the A-2 postmark device but before A-3 entered use, suggesting the Chicago post office was without a handstamp for a short time. However, the fact that the A-2 device reappears in 1843 and 1844 seems to contradict this theory. There is also the possibility that this letter arrived at the post office shortly before closing, after the postmark had been locked away for the night. While we may never know the definitive answer, this cover remains a unique and important piece of early Chicago postal history.