FEBRUARY 2005 Whole No. 162 Vol. 33, No. 1
PENNSYLVANIA POSTAL HISTORIAN
THE BULLETIN OF THE PENNSYLVANIA POSTAL HISTORY SOCIETY
Inside this issue:
A Survey of Philadelphia “Albino” Embossed Corner Cards
Another 1936 Philadelphia Democratic Convention Cover
Newtown Square to West Whiteland
Response to “A Pair of Problems; 1839 Express Mail?” Morrisville, Pa. and Its Namesake, Robert Morris
Newly Acquired Cameron County Covers PENNSYLVANIA POSTAL HISTORIAN
The Bulletin of the Pennsylvania Postal History Society
ISSN – 0894 – 0169 Est. 1974
PENNSYLVANIA POSTAL HISTORIAN The bulletin of the Pennsylvania Postal History Society Published quarterly by the PPHS for its members Volume 33 No. 1 (Whole No. 162) February 2005 APS Affiliate No. 50 Member of the Pennsylvania Federation of Museums and Historical Organizations
www.PaPHS.org
The PPHS is a non-profit, educational organization whose purposes are to cultivate and to promote the study of the postal history of Pennsylvania, to encourage the acquisition and preservation of material relevant and necessary to that study, and to publish and to support the publication of such knowledge for the benefit of the public. The views expressed by contributors are their own and not necessarily those of the PPHS, its Directors, Officers, or Members. Comments and criticisms are invited. Please direct your correspondence to the Editor.
OFFICERS and DIRECTORS APPOINTED OFFICERS
OFFICERS
President Richard Leiby, Jr. Historian Editor Norman Shachat 1774 Creek View Dr. 382 Tall Meadow Lane Fogelsville, PA 18051 Yardley, Pa 19067
Secretary Norman Shachat Auctioneer Robert McKain 382 Tall Meadow Lane 2337 Giant Oaks Drive Yardley, PA 19067 Pittsburgh, PA 15241
Treasurer Richard Colberg Publicity Donald W. Smith P. O. Box 10082 PO Box 576 Lancaster, PA 17605 Johnstown, PA 15902
Catalogs Thomas C. Mazza DIRECTORS 1301 Ave. of the Americas Room 2300 2005 R. Colberg, R. Leiby, D. Telep New York, NY 10019-6092 2006 R. McKain, S. Roth, C. Woodward 2007 J. Boyles, G. Spector, S. Washburne
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EDITOR’S COMMENTS My thanks to those who responded to my plea for articles. I can now breathe a little easier with a small backlog, but please do not let up. It is nice to have sufficient material to construct an issue with a good variety of subject matter. The feature article by Ron Summers is an excellent Survey of Philadelphia “Albino” Embossed Corner Cards. It is a difficult subject to illustrate, but Ron has done a superb job and at the end of his article he tells us how he did it. Following his article, I had just enough space to show Another 1936 Philadelphia Democratic Convention Cover sent in by Gus Spector. After many years of searching, Bill Schultz found a Newtown Square to West Whiteland cover and used it as a vehicle to explore the history of the area in which he has lived his whole life. In a Response to “A Pair of Problems; 1839 Express Mail?” are shown some interesting express mail covers from the collections of the three authors; Rick Leiby, Van Koppersmith and myself. Several months ago, not knowing what I might have to fill the Feb. Issue, I began researching Morrisville, Pa. and Its Namesake, Robert Morris. I found the details fascinating and hope you do as well. Finally, Anita Sprankle describes a common phenomenon which I am sure many of us have experienced; new material becomes available just after we have published on the subject. More importantly for our membership, take note that the covers became available from Phil Bansner, a member of our Society, who purchased Blair Gibbs’ collection this past year. Blair, one of our founding members who died in 2003, was an avid collector of many aspects of Pennsylvania postal history. After I had completed including my Morrisville article in this issue, I received an E-mail from Steve Roth indicating that he had scanned many early Philadelphia Directories and was making them available on CD for a nominal price. I immediately purchased several of them and used the space just following my article to show the listings for Robert Morris in two of them. Details regarding the availability of these directories and those from Pittsburgh and a few other Pa. towns are given at the bottom of Page 29. Hope you enjoy the issue and have a pleasant winter.
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MEMBERSHIP SUMMARY
Total Membership as of 10/15/04 ------129
New Member ------+1
# 551 Michael M. Zilka (Creighton, PA) (Civil War, WW II)
Resignations ------5
# 240 Jesse Boehret (Virginia Beach, VA) # 323 Edward F. Deschl (New York, NY) # 398 Arnold Engel (Philadelphia, PA) # 518 Gordon C. Baker (Rockville, MD0 # 540 Thomas Howard (Hanover, PA)
Total Membership as of 1/15/05 ------125 (101 paid, incl. 4 life; 24 unpaid)
HISTORIAN Vol. 33, No. 1 (Whole No. 162) February 2005 2
M y C nd r
Annual Meeting Pennsylvania Postal History Society Saturday Oct. 1, 2005 at the Philadelphia National Stamp Exhibition
Valley Forge Convention Center King of Prussia, PA September 30 – October 2, 2005
A prospectus will be available on their website: home.att.net/~pnse
In addition to our Society, the following will be convening at PNSE 2005:
Postal History Society Machine Cancel Society Poster Stamp Society U. S. Cancellation Club International Society for Portuguese Philately
Check Out Our Fabulous Web Site www.PaPHS.org For input, questions, or comments contact our webmaster Steve Roth at:
3 HISTORIAN Vol. 33, No. 1 (Whole No. 162) February 2005 Member E-Mail Addresses
George Ashman [email protected] (Carbon Co.) John Barwis [email protected] (Phila. Exhange Office Mails) Gordon Baker [email protected] (Fayette Co.) Chip Blumberg [email protected] (Montgomery Co., Dealer) Glen Blauch [email protected] (Lebanon Co.) Jim Boyles [email protected] (Lancaster City and County) Mike Burke [email protected] (Braddock, Greencasle, Rankin, Swissvale) Tom Clarke [email protected] (Philadelphia Postal History) Richard Colberg [email protected] (Litiz) Joe Crosby [email protected] (Pa. Fancy Cancels) Gerald Cross [email protected] (Wilkes-Barre) George Danyliw [email protected] (Phila. and Schuylkill Co.) Barry Elkins [email protected] (Philadelphia Co.) Helen Galatan-Stone [email protected] (Phila. Buildings prior to 1900) Ken Hall [email protected] (Pa. Manuscript Postmarks) Gerald Hof [email protected] (Philadelphia, Hagerstown, Md.) Peter Hubicki [email protected] (Columbia, Montour, Northumberland Co.) Van Koppersmith [email protected] (Phila. Maritime Markings) Robert Kroupa [email protected] (Chester County, DPO’s) Rick Leiby [email protected] (Pa. Stampless) Tom Mazza [email protected] (Erie, Western Pa.) Bob McKain [email protected] (Pittsburgh, Pa. Machines) Jim Mehrer [email protected] (Dealer: Mail Bid Sales, Lit. and Supplies) Gordon Morison [email protected] (Bradford County) Clay Olson [email protected] (Tioga County) Joseph Palombit [email protected] (Montgomery, Chester, & Delaware Counties) Al Parsons [email protected] (Chemung, Steuben, Schuyler Counties, NY) Steven Roth [email protected] (Domestic Maritime, Prexies) Robert G. Rufe [email protected] (Bucks County) Bill Schultz [email protected] (West Chester,West Whiteland & West Town) Norm Shachat [email protected] (Phila. and Bucks Co.) Dave Silcox [email protected] (Schuylkill and Berks Co.) Don W. Smith [email protected] (Johnstown, Cambria County) Gus Spector [email protected] (Phila., Buildings, Civil War ) Anita Sprankle [email protected] (North Central DPO’s, Sewing Machines) Gordon Trotter [email protected] (Nathan Trotter & Co. Correspondence) Dan Telep [email protected] (Pittsburgh, Sewickley, Western Pa.) Steve Washburne [email protected] (Philadelphia, Monmouth Co., N. J.) Cliff Woodward [email protected] (Western Pa., Oil Towns) Ronald J. Yeager [email protected] (Elk, Cameron and McKean Counties) PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU WOULD LIKE YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS LISTED HERE.
INDICATE YOUR PA COLLECTING INTEREST.
HISTORIAN Vol. 33, No. 1 (Whole No. 162) February 2005 4 A Survey of Philadelphia “Albino” Embossed Corner Cards By Ron Summers © 2004 (# 538) Colorless embossed corner cards were common in Philadelphia in the 1850's and 1860's. These corner cards (also called “albino” or “blind embossed”) are frequently encountered by postal history collectors interested in this time period. The albinos arose during the same period as the elaborate cameo covers. Compared to the cameos, many of which were also embossed, albino embossed corner cards were less expensive to print. The need to cut costs was critical in this time period, during which there were four economic recessions and a costly civil war.1 Business owners could purchase embossers such as the one shown in Figure 1 and apply the design themselves, avoiding the costs of ink and printing. Similar embossers are still sold today.
Figure 1 Hand-operated device similar to those used to apply the colorless embossed designs.
Let’s define some of the terms I’ll use. A corner card is a cover having imprinted the name and address of the envelope user, usually placed in the upper left hand corner; an illustration may accompany the printed address.2 Embossing involves sinking a design into the metal of a die and an inverse of the design into a second die.3 To create the embossed design, one places a piece of paper between the two aligned dies and impresses the dies into the paper, forming the design in relief. Thus the design is raised from the background. In some forms of embossed printing, a platen is used instead of a second die. U.S. stamped envelopes are often produced using this type of embossed printing. Embossed printing can be done with or without ink. “Albino” refers to corner cards embossed without ink. Cameo covers are a form of corner card with an inked design and an elaborate frame.4 Many cameo covers are also embossed.
5 HISTORIAN Vol. 33, No. 1 (Whole No. 162) February 2005 Most of the designs I have found consist of simple text, occasionally enhanced with a flourish and a fancy border. But some entrepreneurs went the extra mile and included a picture relating to their area of business or occupation. Some of my favorite designs are on covers from an umbrella manufacturer, a commercial college (business trade school), a religious publisher and a hotel (Figure 2 – 5).
Figure 2 One open and two closed umbrellas are shown on this light blue folded lettersheet dated May 24, 1852 from Wright Bro’s Umbrella Manufacturers. Business correspondence discusses the status of the market for whalebone, presumably used to make umbrella handles. 114 Market St. corresponds with 324 Market St. today.5
Figure 3 A student sits working at a desk in this design c. 1860 from Crittenden's Commercial College, N.E. Cor 7th & Chestnut Sts, Philada.
Figure 4 Brown cover from the Presbyterian Board of Publication, circa 1854. 265 Chestnut St. is an old address, equivalent to 821 Chestnut today. The book visible in the central circle radiates light and may represent the Bible.
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A B
Figure 5 The Continental Hotel used several designs that evolved over time. The hat in the center of the design bears the number 1776 and evokes the Revolutionary War period and Continental Congress. In (A), the design, dated 1870, bears a double oval outer frame (a thin inner band is visible at top and lower left). In (B), the design, circa 1877, bears a sheaves of wheat border. An earlier cover from 1861 (not shown) is similar to the 1870 design but the oval is compressed slightly top to bottom and the spaces before the "C" in Continental and after "L" in Hotel are smaller, with the text almost running into the word "Philadelphia".
For those businesses unwilling to pay for a picture, creativity was expressed by variations in design of the outer frame and whether text was curved or straight. Decorative elements such as wavy lines, flowers and stars occasionally were used. Presumably these variations could be chosen from a catalog or sign displayed in the printing establishment. You can get a sense of the variety of frames and decorative elements in Figure 6 – Figure 10.
Figure 6 Fancy outer frame on brown paper, circa 1854, of Wm. H. Armstrong, Attorney at Law, No. 9 Mercantile Library Fifth Street. A faint outer frame line is visible at top and left, surrounding the elaborate inner frame. Two retired abbreviations are seen: "Chesnut", for Chestnut Street, and "Philad'a", for Philadelphia.
Figure 7 Fancy outer frame on a cover from Boyd & Stroud, importers of queens ware, 32 N. 4th St., Phila. Note the flourishes surrounding the words “queens ware”. Queen’s ware is glazed English earthenware of a cream color6.
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A B C
D E F
G H I
Figure 8 Variety of outer frame borders and flourishes. (A) S. J. Christian Flour & Grain Factor, No. 141 N. Water St. & 148 N. Wharves, dated September 17, 1863. Embossed design on top flap of 1861 Nesbitt. (B) James Smith & Co. Machine Card Manufacturers, Cor. Marshall & Willow St. circa 1866. (C) F. L. & D.K. Carnell, Manufacturers of Brick Machinery, 1844 Germantown Ave., circa 1873. (D) W.P. Uhlinger & Co. Sewing Machine Manufacturers, Office 628 Arch St., early 1860’s. (E) Edward Cogan, dealer in coins, medals, books, engravings & curiosities, No. 48 N. 10th St., circa 1860. (F) C.M.S. Leslie Conveyancer and Real Estate Agent, 717 Sansom St., below Chestnut Street. A relatively late use with a 3 ct. banknote stamp on a dark yellow cover, circa 1870's. (G) Frishmuth & Brother, Wholesale tobacco dealers, No. 151 N. Third Street, five doors below Race [Street]. Embossed on top flap, November 30, 1860. (H) C.P. Knight & Co. fish, provisions &c., 114 & 116 So. Wharves, circa 1867. (I) Gregg Brothers Wool Brokers, 18 S. Front and 19 Letitia Streets, enclosure dated Sept. 1, 1868 listed current prices of domestic wool.
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J K L
M N
Figure 8 (J) J. H. Morris Conveyancer, 235 No. 10th St., franked with 3 ct. 1869 locomotive stamp. (K) Edwin Greble Steam Marble Works, 1708 Chestnut St Philada. Franked with 3 ct. 1869 locomotive stamp. Inner design resembles a linked chain. (L) Thomas H. Smart, Druggist & Apothecary, S.W. Cor Tenth & Girard Avenue, on orange cover franked with grilled Sc. #94, c. 1868. (M) Thos. White Straw and Fancy Bonnets, 41 So. 2nd St., c. 1852. (N) Morris, Tasker & Co. Gas & Steam Tube & Boiler Flue Manufacturers and Iron Founders, Pascal Iron Works, c. 1859.
Figure 9 Embossed design on orange paper from D. Focht & Bro Grocers. The embossed design is "cancelled" by an unusually clear 1861 double octagonal postmark.
9 HISTORIAN Vol. 33, No. 1 (Whole No. 162) February 2005 Figure 10 The stamp was placed over the embossed design from J.E. Fox Banking, Stock, Bill and Collection Office, 11 South 3rd St., c. 1860. The design can be read from inside the cover.
Philadelphia was abbreviated “Philada” or “Philad’a” on a number of these corner cards (Figure 3, Figure 6, Figure 8K,N). This abbreviation fell out of favor and was little used after 1870.
The colorless embossed designs had a number of problems, both esthetic and functional. Since the designs were applied by hand, they were often placed inconsistently, for example being partially clipped off the edge of the cover (Figure 11) or rotated at an odd angle (Figure 12). Often, a poor impression was left on the paper if insufficient pressure was applied (Figure 13). The designs are particularly hard to make out on dark paper (Figure 4). And occasionally, an unusual embossing error by a printer simulates a colorless design (Figure 14). The net result was that the designs were often difficult to read and left a sloppy appearance. Consequently, when better and cheaper printing techniques became available in the 1870’s, customers were happy to abandon the labor-intensive embossers. Embossing on covers did not disappear, however. Two examples of embossing on “all-over” advertising covers can be seen in Figure 15.
Figure 11 A horseless carriage is shown, c. 1869, on this cover from J. George Lefler, Carriage Builder, 6th St Corner of Girard Ave. The left side of the frame was clipped off because the design was applied too close to the cover’s edge.
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Figure 12 N & G Taylor Co., a manufacturer of roofing materials, on Nesbitt 1864 issue stamped envelope. The design was applied carelessly, at an off-angle.
A B
Figure 13 (A) Embossed design on manila/light brown cover from 242 South 5th St. postmarked Nov. 1, 1858 with single octagon cancel. One problem with embossed designs was that sometimes the impression was so poor that it was illegible. In this example, the attorney's name (Thomas J. …), the line just above Philada (below … St.) and the right side of the cameo are difficult to make out. (B) An embossed design is also present on the rear flap.
Figure 14 A
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Figure 14 B
Figure 14 Unusual embossing error on an orange cover from Malone & Co. Commission Merchants, 138 & 140 N. Broad St., postmarked Jan 7, 1865. The corner card in (A) appears to be a colorless embossed design, inverted in the lower left. However, inspection of the reverse (B) shows this to be a dark blue cameo mistakenly printed and embossed on the wrong side of the cover.
Figure 15 A
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Figure 15 B Figure 15 Colorless embossed designs on “all-over” advertising covers. (A) American Meter Company, c. 1873. The company name is embossed. The printer was Edward Stern & Co., Manufacturers, Philadelphia. The printer’s mark is printed in faint pink type on the rear flap. It is unusual to see a printer’s mark on an embosssed cover. (B) E. C. Penfield & Co., April 1, 1886. “Celluloid Truss” is embossed.
Because albino corner cards are difficult to photograph, I conclude with a few remarks about how I produced the images in this article. I scanned the covers on an HP ScanJet scanner at 300 dpi (dots per inch). I set the contrast level to a low value, indicating the item to be scanned had low color contrast. Next, I loaded the scanned image into editing software, converted the image to grayscale, and applied the automated contrast balancing feature to bring out the detail in the design. Microsoft Photo Editor software, included with the Windows XP operating system, has these capabilities. In some cases, I further sharpened the image using the editing software. I could bring out embossed designs on dark paper by increasing the brightness during scanning.
Engendered in a time of economic constraints, the albino corner card designs may at first seem plain and not eye catching. However, with study they reveal an unexpected breadth of designs and postal usages. I recommend them to you as an affordable and collectible area reminiscent of a bygone era.
13 HISTORIAN Vol. 33, No. 1 (Whole No. 162) February 2005 References: 1. National Bureau of Economic Research, http://www.nber.org/cycles.html, last accessed October 10, 2004. 2. Collectors Club of Chicago, Glossary of Stamp Collecting Terms, http://www.askphil.org/b25c.htm, last accessed October 11, 2004. 3. Scott Specialized Catalog of U.S. Stamps and Covers, p. 23A, 2003. 4. T. Beckman, Cameo Stamps on Pennsylvania Covers and the Diesinkers Who Made Them, Pennsylvania Postal Historian, Vol. 24, No. 4 (Whole No. 134) pp. 4 – 12, November 1997. 5. R. Summers, The Ordinance of 1856 and the Renumbering of Philadelphia Street Addresses, Pennsylvania Postal Historian, Vol. 32, No. 1 (Whole No. 158) pp. 6 – 16, February 2004. 6. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Queen's+ware, last accessed October 10, 2004.
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Another 1936 Philadelphia Democratic Convention Cover By Gus Spector (# 396) As a follow up to Norm’s article in the May 2004 Historian (pp. 24-25), here is another opening day commemorative cover in my collection showing the convention site. Both the one shown by Norm and the one below were prepared by philatelic clubs. I suspect there are many more out there by other clubs.
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HISTORIAN Vol. 33, No. 1 (Whole No. 162) February 2005 14 Newtown Square to West Whiteland By William Schultz (# 6) I grew up in Newtown Square, Delaware County, Pennsylvania and after schooling then college plus a two year stint in the late sixties for the US Army, I moved to the West Chester area in Chester County. The area we finally settled into in 1976 in Chester County is West Whiteland Township. I still live in the township that encompasses Exton and an historical section of the Lancaster Pike, a.k.a. The Lincoln Highway (Route 30). For a long number of years I have searched for the cover to capture this lifetime in the form of a Postal History cover. Recently I purchased the cover (Figure #1) that was mailed from Newtown Square to West Whiteland. I have been looking for that cover since 1976.
Figure 1
The Newtown Square Post Office opened on February 29, 1828, Leap year Day. The ‘Square’ P. O. has operated continuously since its inception. The history of Newtown Township predates the town’s post office considerably. William Penn laid out the town, located about 15 miles west of the current western boundary of Philadelphia, in 1681 and the ‘Townstead’ was incorporated in 1684. The original settlers were Welsh Quakers. The Township covers 10.2 square miles, first settled by Mr. Daniel Williamson from Stretton, UK. The first road was constructed in 1683 and by 1711 the Friends’ Meeting was built. Records indicate that 16 citizens of Newtown Square died in the Revolutionary War. One of the oldest houses is dated 1683, called the Daniel Williamson House, and is still standing.
15 HISTORIAN Vol. 33, No. 1 (Whole No. 162) February 2005 Three other significant facts relating to Newtown Square: a.) There were Underground Railroad locations found in the Township from the Civil War; b.) Benjamin West, the famous American painter spent part of his childhood there; c.) Originally, a part of Chester County until Delaware County split from Chester County in 1789. A stampless 1849 cover from Newtown Square to Doylestown with a 5 cent manuscript rate is shown in Figure 2,
Figure 2
About 13 miles west of Newtown Square is West Whiteland Township. Whiteland organized in 1704 and the first constable, Mr. David Jones, is mentioned on court records in that same year. The first settler in Whiteland in 1711 was Richard Thomas with roots in Wales, UK. The Whiteland Township in 1732 (or 1765 depending on the source) was divided into “East” and “West” townships. The “West” township, in 1756 by court decree, finalized the township’s boundaries encompassing 13.3 square miles. The Grove Methodist Church opened in 1773 in the township in the area called Grove, which had its own P. O. from 1832 to 1843. The West Whiteland Post Office opened on April 4, 1826 with Mr. Levi Evans the initial Postmaster. It remained open until July 14, 1843 when the area was provided services by the Belvidere P. O. from 1843 to 1850. The West Whiteland P. O. then ‘re-opened’ and remained operational until 1962 then becoming part of the Exton P. O. (1861 to present). Figure 3 shows an 1878 cover from the township. Before the Revolutionary War, the Native Americans (Lenni-Lenape) called the area ‘The Dark Valley’ because of the trees and the undergrowth. During the War, Washington and many of his troops camped nearby in preparation for a September 16, 1777 encounter with British Gen. William Howe. Because of inclement weather, the “Battle of the Clouds” was never ‘really’ fought though there was a brief skirmish with a few casualties.
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Figure 3
Two older eastern Pennsylvania Post Offices that are comparable in a number of ways in times gone by, but sadly only one exists today: Newtown Square.
References: The History of West Whiteland by Diane Snyder, 1982 edition. Kay and Smith “Pennsylvania Postal History”, 1995 edition. www.eastwhiteland.org/docs/ http://home.ccil.org/~bettyl/history www.rottsweb.com/usgenweb/pa/chester/area http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/pa/chester/history/local/ http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/pa/chester/history/whiteland.txt http://newtownsq.home.att.net/nstrivia.html http://newtownsq.home.att.net/sitegallery.html
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Oldest house still standing in Newtown Township, Delaware County
Daniel Williamson House referred to in above article
Picture obtained from Newtown Square website.
17 HISTORIAN Vol. 33, No. 1 (Whole No. 162) February 2005 Response to “A Pair of Problems; 1839 Express Mail?” By Rick Leiby (# 379), Van Koppersmith (# 412) and Norm Shachat (# 76) In the last issue of the Historian (Nov. 2004, pp. 20-21) Rick Leiby showed two 1839 multi-rate covers from Philadelphia to New Orleans (Figure 1) and posed the question as to whether or not they might be “express mail covers that passed through the system without following the regulations” for such mail. Your editor received one response from Van Koppersmith. We are both in agreement that the covers were sent by regular mail and not express mail. The top cover contained two enclosures and was sent triple rate (75¢) collect, and the bottom cover contained one enclosure and was sent double rate (50¢) collect. We believe the vertical line in front of the “50” is a flourish made when scribing the rate.. Express mail covers to or from Pennsylvania are not prevalent. So we thought that a brief review of such mail showing covers from our collections might be interesting and informative. The current LKU from Philadelphia, shown in Figure 2, was reported several years ago in our journal (N. Shachat, Historian, Vol. 13, No. 1, Whole No. 77, Jan. – Feb. 1986, p. 10). Express Figure 1
Figure 2
Single rate (3 x 25¢) Datelined June 27, 1839 Posted June 29, 1839
HISTORIAN Vol. 33, No. 1 (Whole No. 162) February 2005 18 mail service began on Nov. 15, 1836 and was officially terminated on July 1, 1839. The postage charged for the service was three times the normal letter rate, a significant amount of money in those days. Thus one can understand the paucity of such mail Rick provided the single-rate example shown in Figure 3 (front and back). It is a folded letter posted at Bristol, Pa. on Dec. 26, 1836 and sent “By Express Mail from Philadelphia” to Mobile, Ala. It was sent a little over a month after the service was initiated
Figure 3 Rick also indicated that he is aware of only one other express mail cover that was posted in a Pennsylvania town other than Philadelphia. It is an Allentown cover shown as Fig. 80 on page 90 of Milgram’s book (James W. Milgram, The Express Mail of 1836-1839, Coll. Club of Chicago, 1977). Since Philadelphia was the only Pennsylvania town on the express mail route (ibid, p. 50), we surmise that Allentown letter also was transported via Philadelphia, even though it does not show the neat manuscript directions of the Figure 3 cover. Finally, to show that mail went the other way as well, Van has 4 express mail covers from Mobile, Ala. to Philadelphia, two of which are illustrated in Figures 4 and 5.
Figure 4 Single datelined Mobile Dec. 8, 1838 Figure 5 Double datelined Mobile Feb. 3, 1838
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19 HISTORIAN Vol. 33, No. 1 (Whole No. 162) February 2005 Morrisville, Pa. and Its Namesake, Robert Morris By Norman Shachat (# 76) The small Borough of Morrisville, located just across the Delaware River from Trenton, celebrated the 200th anniversary of its establishment last year. The celebration included a full day of events1 including the issuance of a commemorative cover (Figure 1) and the dedication of a new statue of Robert Morris, sculpted by James Gafgen and illustrated on the cover.
Figure 1
Although I and most residents in Lower Makefield Township use a Yardley address, essentially all of our mail is processed at the much larger Morrisville P. O. As previously reported (Historian, Vol 22, No. 1, Whole # 125, Feb. 1995, p. 12), the Yardley P. O. became a branch of the Morrisville P. O. in 1958 and remains so today. I find it interesting that Yardley is the “prestigious” address in our area rather than Morrisville, despite the fact that the latter is named after one of the great patriots of the American Revolution and a founder of our Country. I suspect the reason relates more to the perceived wealth of the residents of the two boroughs during the past 50 years than to their historic origin. It was only during the past 50 years that Lower Makefield developed from a community of a few farmers to a largely residential township. During that period, the more industrial and less picturesque Morrisville did not have the prestige of the quaint and mostly residential Yardley. I was surprised to find in Kay and Smith that the Morrisville P. O. was established on July 28, 1794, ten years before the borough was founded. It also surprised me that although Robert Morris played an important role in the founding of our Country, there has never been issued a U. S. stamp honoring him individually, as there has been for most of the other patriots. My curiosity prompted a study of both the early history of Morrisville as well as the life of Robert Morris. In this article I share some of the findings which I found particularly interesting.
HISTORIAN Vol. 33, No. 1 (Whole No. 162) February 2005 20 Early Morrisville History1,2 The oldest of the three major historic landmarks in Morrisville is “Grey Stones” at the intersection of Crown Street and Highland Avenue, commemorating the purchase of land by William Penn from the Lenni-Lenape Indians in 1682 (Figure 2). It is purported to be the starting place where all Pennsylvania land measurements began. In the mid 1700’s, Adam Hoops built a grist mill and subsequently a sawmill, splitting mill, sheet rolling mill, button factory and hat factory on land which he owned, known at the time as Falls of the Delaware (Falls of Trenton). The Colvin family also owned 264 acres in the area and apparently ran a ferry, because the area was also known as Colvin’s Ferry.
Hoops built an elegant home which was named “Summerseat”, the second major historic landmark in Morrisville (Figure 3). When Hoops died in 1771, Thomas Barclay, his son-in-law, inherited “Summerseat” and the surrounding 220 acres. Barclay, a successful businessman, served on colonial committees and contributed large sums to support the Revolution. He was the first to serve abroad as consul for the U. S. and eventually negotiated the famous treaty with Morocco in 1786 which remains in effect today Figure 2 Reproduced from Ref. 2 as the longest standing treaty with a foreign government.
Figure 3 “Summerseat” photo by author, Nov. 2004
21 HISTORIAN Vol. 33, No. 1 (Whole No. 162) February 2005 As the sign in front of “Summerseat” indicates (Figure 4), Washington used the home as his head- quarters from Dec. 8 to Dec. 14, 1776, during the first crucial year of the Revolutionary War. The sign also incorrectly states that the home was built in 1773 by Barclay. Efforts by local historians to correct the sign to indicate that it was built earlier by Hoops have thus far been unsuccessful. Figure 4 Photo by author, Nov. 2004 Robert Morris began to acquire land in the Falls of the Delaware area with an original purchase of 450 acres in 1789. In 1791 he bought “Summerseat and its 271 acres. Eventually he owned approximately 2,500 acres in the area including not only “Summerseat” but also the several mills and factories on the property. From the beginning, his oldest son, Robert,Jr., was given the responsibility to manage the holdings. Although Robert Morris may have spent some time at “Summerseat”, especially during the hot summers, I suspect it is his son who was the permanent resident during the time that Morris owned the property. Knowing this, it is not hard to understand why in 1794, when the post office was established, it was named the Morrisville P. O. Thus the third of the three major landmarks in Morrisville is the newly dedicated Morris statue (Figure 5). Unfortunately by 1797, Morris lost all of his land holdings and was put into debtor’s prison. Some of his Morrisville property, including “Summerseat”, was acquired by George Clymer. Clymer, like Morris, was a Philadelphia merchant who signed both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and devoted his fortune to the Revolution. He served as the first U. S. Treasurer in the Continental Congress and fought in the war as an officer. Thus “Summerseat” has the unique distinction of having been owned by two signers of both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
Figure 5 Photo by author, Nov. 2004
HISTORIAN Vol. 33, No. 1 (Whole No. 162) February 2005 22 Robert Morris (This section is a brief biography Robert Morris. Most of the information was obtained from an excellent biography by Frederick Wagner entitled Robert Morris Audacious Patriot,3 which not only chronicles the life of Morris, but also provides a wonderful glimpse at life in Philadelphia during the last half of the 18th Century. I recommend it to anyone interested in Philadelphia history during that period.) Born in Liverpool, England in 1734, Robert Morris crossed the Atlantic in 1747 at the age of 13 to join his father in Oxford, Md. (Baltimore area). His father came to America in 1738 as an agent for the firm of Foster, Cunliffe & Sons and was successful in business and finance. Within a year of his arrival, young Morris was sent to Philadelphia to live with a friend of his father and to attend school. Robert detested school work but showed an interest in business and finance, perhaps an aptitude inherited from his father. He soon left school and was placed as an apprentice with the merchant Charles Willing. He became good friends with Willing’s son Thomas who was 3 years his senior and also worked in the firm. During the first year of his apprenticeship, Robert was informed that his father had died in a freak accident at Oxford, and at the tender age of 16 he had inherited ₤ 2,000, the bulk of his father’s estate. In 1751 the firm became Charles Willing & Son and Robert continued to assume ever increasing responsibilities showing an ability to take risks and to handle complex transactions. Charles Willing died in the 1754 Philadelphia typhus epidemic. In 1757, one year after he had finished his 7-year apprenticeship, Robert Morris became Thomas Willing’s partner in the firm. As Thomas became more active in politics (elected Mayor of Phila. in 1763), Robert assumed more responsibility for their prospering business. On March 2, 1769, Robert Morris married Mary White (Figure 6), daughter of Colonel Thomas White, a wealthy lawyer and surveyor. At the time, Morris was 35 years old, while his bride was just 20. It is not surprising then that their first son, Robert, Jr., was born on Dec. 19, 1769. Two other sons soon followed: Thomas on Feb. 26, 1771 and William on Feb. 26, 1772. Hetty, their first daughter, was born on July 20, 1774. Their fourth son, Charles arrived on July 11, 1777 during the turmoil of the Revolution. Their last child and second daughter, Maria, was born on Aug. 24, 1779. In addition to their city home on Front Street, they purchased an 8-acre farm on the east bank of the Schuylkill in 1770, where they built a summer home which they named “The Hills”. Figure 6 Engraving of portrait by Peale, Coll. of the Hist. Soc. of Pa. (Reference 3, p. 60)
23 HISTORIAN Vol. 33, No. 1 (Whole No. 162) February 2005 Active in opposing the various taxes imposed on the colonies by George III (Stamp Act, Tea Act, etc.) Morris was elected to the Pennsylvania Assembly in Oct. 1775 and joined the Second Continental Congress in Nov. 1775. He succeeded his partner Thomas Willing as chairman of the Secret Committee (eventually Dept. of Commerce) which was authorized to export products and import arms and military supplies. He was also a member of the Committee of Secret Correspondence (eventually Dept. of State) and the Marine Committee (eventually Dept. of the Navy). Although zealous in the performance of his duties, Morris was initially reluctant to sever ties with Great Britain. He did not vote for the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, staying away so that the Pa. delegation could vote for it. Nonetheless, when the parchment copy became available for signature on Aug. 2, he signed it! Thus his energy and zeal were now committed to the cause of independence. Figure 7 Portrait by Peale, Coll. of the Hist. Soc. of Pa. (Reference 3, p. 61) Morris (Figure 7) never fought in the Revolutionary War, but his tireless efforts to raise funds, juggle accounts, arrange for shipments, develop a stable currency, etc. contributed immeasurably to the ultimate success of the Revolution. Throughout the war, he begged, borrowed and put his own credit on the line to get funds and equipment needed to supply Washington and his troops. Criticized by some for conducting his own export-import business at the same time, his dedication and tireless efforts on behalf of the cause cannot be questioned. When Congress fled to Baltimore in late 1776, Morris remained in Philadelphia to conduct business on behalf of Congress. Eventually Howe did take Philadelphia in the fall of 1777 and Morris and his family had to flee to the Lancaster area along with Congress while Washington retreated to Valley Forge for the winter. The Articles of Confederation were adopted by Congress on Nov. 15, 1777 and signed by the delegates, including Morris on behalf of Pennsylvania. Congress and Morris returned to Philadelphia in 1778 when the British under the command of Sir Henry Clinton retreated to New York City. The retreat was prompted by the Treaties of Alliance between France and the U. S. signed in Feb. 1778 and the fear generated by reports of the French fleet sailing to America to help their new ally. In 1778 Morris terminated his partnership with Willing. One of the reasons is a charge
HISTORIAN Vol. 33, No. 1 (Whole No. 162) February 2005 24 by Thomas Paine and others that Morris had dishonestly applied public funds to pay a private loss. Congress appointed a committee to investigate the charges. The committee report issued in Feb. 1779 exonerated him completely indicating he had acted “with fidelity and integrity and an honorable zeal for the happiness of his country”. From Nov. 1779 to May 1881, Morris took a hiatus from formal public service but continued the war effort, contributing to the establishment of the Pennsylvania Bank to supply provisions for the troops. When Congress found itself in dire financial difficulties in Feb. 1781, they elected him unanimously to run the Department of Finance. He accepted in May 1781 and received enthusiastic support from Benjamin Franklin, George Washington and Alexander Hamilton. A month later he assumed the additional burden of Agent of Marine. There is little doubt that the efforts by Morris to raise funds and supply the troops contributed to the defeat of the British at Yorktown in Oct. 1781. While negotiations with the British moved slowly and American troops remained under arms for another twenty months or so, the war was essentially over. In the fall of 1781 Morris issued paper money under his own name (“Morris notes”) and by early 1782 helped establish the Bank of North America. He urged a mint to produce coinage, an idea which was approved by Congress, but did not come to fruition for another ten years when the first U. S. Mint was established in Philadelphia in 1792. Having difficulty raising money from the states to support the Federal Government, Congress authorized Morris to appoint agents to collect taxes from the states. As Morris continued the Herculean task of raising funds to support the army as well as repay the enormous debts, he continued to be blamed by some and praised by others. In an effort to get Congress to take appropriate measures to fund the increasing debt and maintain the honor of the new government, Morris submitted a letter of resignation on Jan, 24, 1783. By mid 1783 he agreed to continue in office temporarily, and did so until late 1784, concentrating on successfully meeting obligations due and reducing the amounts outstanding in “Morris notes”.
After leaving office, he concentrated on saving the Bank of North America, viewed by some to be a threat to democracy by allowing a few to control the countries wealth. The Pa. Assembly revoked the charter. Morris won a seat in the Assembly and continued to fight for the bank, getting the charter restored in 1787. During this period Morris pursued his business and his wealth grew. In 1785 they moved from their Front Street house to a new and more elegant home at 190 High Street (now Market Street). Morris was a Pa. delegate to the Annapolis Convention which began in Sept. 1786 to deal with the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation. In May 1787 they began to draft articles to revise the Articles which eventually became the Constitution of the United States. Morris signed the Constitution and fought for its ratification in Pennsylvania which occurred on Dec. 12, 1787. The Pa. Assembly selected Morris as one of its first two U. S. Senators and he served in
25 HISTORIAN Vol. 33, No. 1 (Whole No. 162) February 2005 that body from 1789 to 1795. The Congress under the new Constitution met in New York City for the first time in March 1789, electing George Washington as President and John Adams as Vice President. Morris speculated extensively in land during the late 1780’s and into the 1790’s. It is believed that his purchase of the property at the Falls of Trenton was done with the hope that it would become the site for the permanent capitol of the U. S. He fought for it as well as other Pa. locations (Germantown, Philadelphia, etc.) but was ultimately unsuccessful. Congress finally compromised in 1790, establishing the seat of government in Philadelphia for ten years while the permanent location on the banks of the Potomac was developed.
Morris could have become Sec. of the Treasury, but he refused. His energies were waning and his business speculations needed more attention. Furthermore, Congress would not allow him to pursue his private business at the same time. He strongly supported his friend Alexander Hamilton who took the position.
Figure 8
Undated Morris free frank, probably posted while U. S. Senator.
(Taken from E-bay listing which appeared from Oct. to Dec. 2004)
When he left the Senate, Morris was an extremely rich man on paper, owning large tracts of land in both Europe and the U. S. He apparently speculated wildly and leveraged his investments. As previously mentioned, his son Robert, Jr. was put in charge of his Morrisville properties. Unfortunately as a result of a downturn in the economy in 1797, Morris could not keep up with the obligations and tax payments on his heavily mortgaged properties and was placed in the Prune Street jail in Philadelphia, where debtors were incarcerated. He spent 3 years, 6 months and 10 days at the Prune St. debtors’ prison and was released on Aug. 26, 1801. His release was facilitated when Congress passed the first bankruptcy law in 1800 which stated “on petition of his creditors”, a man could be adjudged bankrupt and thus released from prison. For the remainder of his life he lived with his wife in a modest residence on 12th St. between Market and Chestnut. He died on May 8, 1806 and is buried in Christ Churchyard in Philadelphia.
HISTORIAN Vol. 33, No. 1 (Whole No. 162) February 2005 26 I can now understand why Robert Morris never achieved the same status as our other Revolutionary Patriots, even though he deserves to be on that pedestal. Only one of two men to have signed all three of our major founding documents (Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation and Constitution), he devoted the bulk of his adult life to working for the success of the American Revolution and the founding of our Country. Until the debacle near the end of his life, he was a successful businessman and merchant and lived in affluence through most of his life. Appreciated and respected by many of our renowned patriots, he also provoked the ire of others. The spectacular loss of his entire fortune at the end of his life and his stint in debtors’ prison undoubtedly corroded his reputation. As Frederick Wagner states near the end of his book “fame looks acidly on financial failure”. Acknowledgements: I would like to express my sincere appreciation to the following two members of my local stamp club (Morrisville Stamp Club): Sherman Britten, Jr. for supplying a copy of Ref. 1 and Doris Burkhardt for supplying Fig. 1. I also sincerely thank James A. Murray, Jr. for presenting me a copy of his excellent book (Ref. 2) and for sharing his knowledge of Morrisville history with me. References: 1) Morrisville 200, 1804-2004, Vol. 1, No. 5, Oct. 2, 2005 (contains short biography of Robert Morris by James E. Wood) 2) James A Murray, Jr., Morrisville, Yesterday and Today, James A. Murray, Jr., Morrisville, 2003 3) Frederick Wagner, Robert Morris, Audacious Patriot, Dodd, Mead & Co., New York, 1976 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
The 1785 Philadelphia Directory by Francis White contains the following listing for Robert Morris on page 48:
The 1793 Philadelphia Directory and Register by James Hardie shows the following listing for Robert Morris on page 102:
:
27 HISTORIAN Vol. 33, No. 1 (Whole No. 162) February 2005
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