SEEBECK: Hero or Villain? DANILO A.MUESES Second Edition Edited, revised and enlarged by Michael Schreiber Seebeck: Hero or Villain? by Danilo A. Mueses Second Edition SEEBECK: HERO OR VILLAIN? DANILO A. MUESES Second Edition Edited, revised and enlarged by Michael Schreiber including a synopsis of the 1884-1899 Minute Books of the Hamilton Bank Note Engraving and Printing Company and a detailed chronology of the life of Nicholas F. Seebeck Mirific Editions Troy, Ohio, USA 2018 M U E S E S – S E E B E C K TABLE OF CONTENTS All Rights Reserved. Dedication ............................................................................................................... vi Published in the United States of America Prologue to the First Edition ................................................................................... vii by Mirific Editions Image Credits ........................................................................................................ viii [email protected] Acknowledgements .................................................................................................. ix Preface to the Second Edition .................................................................................. xi Chapter I. Introduction ........................................................................................ 1 Chapter II. Nicholas F. Seebeck: The Man, The Legend ......................................... 3 Chapter III. Manhattan Bank Note Company Hamilton Bank Note Company Hamilton Bank Note Engraving and Printing Company ....................... 9 Chapter IV. The Mission in Central America ........................................................ 15 Chapter V. El Salvador ....................................................................................... 17 Chapter VI. Honduras .......................................................................................... 33 Chapter VII. Nicaragua ......................................................................................... 41 Chapter VIII. Ecuador ............................................................................................ 55 Chapter IX. Colombian State of Bolívar and Bolivia ............................................. 65 Created in the United States of America Chapter X. The Dominican Republic ................................................................... 73 Second Edition Chapter XI. The Seebeck Stamps and Postal Stationery ....................................... 81 This digital book has no International Standard Book Number. Chapter XII. The Scandal and the Letter ............................................................... 99 Chapter XIII. Hero or Villain? ............................................................................... 111 Copyright 2018 Michael F. Schreiber Notes to Chapters ................................................................................................. 115 Bibliography ......................................................................................................... 121 The digital version of this book is free and is not for sale or for rent. Officers of the Hamilton Bank Note Engraving and Printing Company .................. 125 Any person who has the digital version of this book may send a free copy of the digital version to any other person. Synopsis of the Minute Books of the Hamilton company ....................................... 129 Chronology of the Life of Nicholas F. Seebeck ....................................................... 145 Index .................................................................................................................... 159 Published October 1, 2018 Version 1 October 31, 2018 First Revision Two separate digital files of the Minute Books of the Hamilton Bank Note Engraving and Printing Co., 1884-1899, accompany this book. The files, created with the permission of Nadine Kofman, include the pages in The Seebecker that contain the full transcriptions that Bill Welch made of the company Minute Books. v M U E S E S – S E E B E C K M U E S E S – S E E B E C K DEDICATION PROLOGUE TO THE FIRST EDITION There are few people who owe their fame, Secondly it offers historical information on for Bill Welch and Danilo Mueses or indeed notoriety, to postage stamps. Seebeck, which allows us to study and inter- Nicholas Seebeck is one of those people. pret why the events which occurred did occur. Much has been written about philate- The Interamerican Federation of Philately ly’s misfortunes as a result of commercial – the FIAF – immediately recognized the contracts that Seebeck realized with some importance of this work and from its incep- Central American and South American coun- tion gave it its unconditional support and is tries for the supplying of postage stamps. proud, now that it is published, to number But is this in fact true, or did the popular- among its patrons. ity of our hobby increase because of the ease We are sure that you will enjoy the work of acquiring stamps at low cost that the con- of Señor Mueses, written as it is in such a tracts and Seebeck created? straightforward, light and easy-to-read form. Danilo Mueses proposes an interest- I am delighted to write these short lines of ing thesis, but even more interesting is that introduction to the author, an old friend and which results from the vast amount of infor- philatelist of great standing, who for many mation that the author offers us on the sub- years has been one of the key figures in the ject, leaving us, the readers, with the last Dominican Republic Philatelic Society where word. his work as editor of the official organ, the This book’s contribution to philately is magazine El Filotélico, has not passed twofold: first, published in Spanish, it is in unacclaimed. the language of the countries with whom The concrete result of this work is that we Seebeck realized his contracts but in which no longer have excuses, when Seebeck is spo- very little on this subject has been written. ken of, for not expounding our views. Dr. Roberto M. Rosende 1985 vii vi M U E S E S – S E E B E C K M U E S E S – S E E B E C K IMAGE CREDITS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS page front cover: Strohmeyer & Wyman Publishers, 1899 stereo card titled “New York’s great In the medium of print, to write an He helped make the book more readable. ‘shopping’ district and Elevated Railway, – Sixth Avenue from 18th Street,” public domain, investigative, historical book on philately is The most difficult task was the collection Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. no easy task. The main problem one encoun- of information from abroad. In the search for 1 photograph of Seebeck: Ernest Schernikow, “Salvador,” The Philatelic Gazette, August ters is the lack of good libraries and conse- the facts, I called upon whichever people (the 1916, 6:8, page 235. quently the need to depend upon friends and majority unknown to me) I believed might 3 Seebeck business card: Kilian E. Nathan, “Seebeckiana,” collection and exhibit. colleagues often separated by thousands of be able to provide information. The enquiry 4 cover of Descriptive Price Catalogue: Irving I. Green, “That Man Seebeck,” American kilometers. Inevitably correspondence can be took me from one end of the continent to the Philatelic Congress Yearbook, 1946, No. 12, page 141. delayed by several weeks. other, and I must acknowledge the invaluable 4 1877 cover from El Salvador: Kilian E. Nathan, “Seebeckiana,” collection and exhibit. The acknowledgements part of the books help given to me by Don Eugenio von Boeck 5 1872 notice of Seebeck move: Bill Welch, The Seebecker, June 1992, page 10. I have written has always terrified me. I have of Bolivia, Don Jairo Londoño of Colombia, 6 Hamilton Bank Note Engraving and Printing Co. card in English: Danilo Mueses, Seebeck: that fear of leaving somebody out. This sec- Ing. Gunther Wiese of Honduras, and Charles ¿ Héroe o Villano?, 1986, page 17. tion is generally the last to be written. One Wiley, George C. Mayer, Erwin Herschkowitz, 7 Hamilton Bank Note Engraving and Printing Co. card in Spanish: Bill Welch, The does not always take the precaution of not- Fred Boughner, Leo J. Harris and Henry Seebecker, September 1990, page 2. ing down along the way all those who have Madden of the United States, and Ricardo 10 Hamilton Bank Note Company (1881) business card: Richard D. Sheaff, collection of granted favors, be they large or small. As a Alvarez and Richard A Washburn of Costa Joe Freedman. result, thanks are given from memory. Rica, all of whom sent me most useful infor- 10 Dominican Republic postal card: collection of the editor. Let me, however, make an effort not to mation to help fill the gaps, large and small, 11 Hamilton Bank Note Engraving and Printing Co. business card: Barbara Mueller, The leave anybody out. Beginning with the peo- that I had to overcome en route to the suc- Essay-Proof Journal, Second Quarter 1988, 45:2. ple at home in the Dominican Republic, I cessful completion of this work. 20 - 91 images of stamps and postal stationery: collection of the editor except as follows: wish to thank José E. Julia who allowed me And finally, very special thanks to 21 photograph of Gen. Carlos Ezeta: public domain, Wikimedia Commons. access to all the literature that he had on Dr. Roberto M. Rosende, who, in addition to 45 sketches of watermarks: Joseph D. Hahn, as modified by the editor. the theme, especially that published in the reading the manuscript and making valuable 48 se-tenant pair of 50c and 20c