May 2012 Whole No. 191 Vol. 40, No. 2 PENNSYLVANIA POSTAL HISTORIAN THE BULLETIN OF THE PENNSYLVANIA POSTAL HISTORY SOCIETY Inside this issue: Pennsylvania’s Postmasters General Mount Hope (Lebanon County) Manuscript First Reported Example A New Philadelphia “Forwarded” Marking; Station H, 1887 Gum Tree P. O., Chester County, Pa. (June 30, 1834 – Feb. 15, 1916) Woman Suffrage Label 2nd Update on Pennsylvania Manuscript Markings, Part XII (Huntington and Indiana Counties) Indiana, PA Post Office Building Dedicated to Jimmy Stewart 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 40 No. 2 (Whole No. 191) May 2012 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 th e 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 Steven Kennedy P. O. Box 10082 P. O. Box 599 Lancaster, PA 17605 Myersville, MD 21773 Catalogs Thomas C. Mazza DIRECTORS 1301 Ave. of the Americas Room 2300 2012 T. Clarke, R. McKain, S. Roth New York, NY 10019-6092 2013 J. Boyles, G. Spector, S. Washburne 2014 R. Colberg, R. Leiby, D. Telep 1 HISTORIAN Vol. 40, No.2 (Whole No. 191) May 2012 Editor’s Note: Our President chose not to provide a letter for this issue so in its place I decided to fill the space with an interesting Civil War cover from my collection. Mail to South Suspended Returned to Sender via Washington D.C. Dead Letter Office Postmaster General Montgomery Blair suspended delivery of mail to the rebellious southern states effective June 1, 1861, shortly after the outbreak of the Civil War in April 1861. Thus the above letter, posted at Philadelphia June 28, 1861, was sent to the Dead Letter Office in Washington. On Aug. 5, it was sent back to Philadelphia, arriving on Aug. 6. The sender paid the 3¢ return postage on receipt of the letter. (J. D. Kohlhepp, The Chronicle, Feb. 1977, pp. 36 – 39) Check Out Our Fabulous Web Site www.PaPHS.org For input, questions, or comments contact our webmaster Steve Roth at: [email protected] HISTORIAN Vol. 40, No. 2 (Whole No. 191) May 2012 2 EDITOR’S COMMENTS All indications are that PNSE had another successful show, albeit on a somewhat reduced scale. Apparently most national shows are facing similar problems. Analysis continues while plans are being made for next year’s show. Hope springs eternal! Although there were a substantial number of competitive exhibits by our Society members, only two of those showed PA postal history (see page 5). Both were awarded gold medals and one achieved the Reserve Grand Award. Congratulations John Barwis! The minutes of our Annual Meeting are shown on the next page. Since our treasury is getting low and our current income does not quite cover our expenses, the membership voted to increase dues to $25 starting next year. I am also happy that Steve Kennedy, who recently rejoined our Society, volunteered to handle Publicity. He will also work with Rick and Steve to update our website. I think this is important because in the past whenever a press release appeared in the philatelic publications, I would receive two or three requests for further information and I would follow up by sending a copy of the Historian and a membership application. On average, approximately one out of four inquiries would result in a new member. The feature article in this issue “Pennsylvania’s Postmasters General” by Steve Kochersperger was written to honor our current Postmaster General and show Pennsylvania’s significant contribution to the office. At the beginning of this year, Steve (Julian, PA Postmaster) relinquished the editorship of The Pennsylvania Register to Nancy Isenberg (Home, PA Postmaster). I contacted Nancy and we agreed to continue working cooperatively on the exchange of articles. My sincere thanks to Steve for his contributions (Continued on page 17) MEMBERSHIP SUMMARY Total Membership as of 1/15/12 -------------------------------------------------------------- 115 New Member ------------------------------------------------------------------- + 2 # 586 Lettice Moon (Roslyn, PA) (19 th Century covers and postal cards) # 587 Frank A. Piazzi, Jr. (Greentown, PA) (Old covers) Total Membership as of 4/15/12 --------------------------------------------------------------- 117 (includes 4 life members) (As of the end of Feb., ten members had not paid their dues. Before our Treasurer left for France, he sent out new bills. Hopefully he will find their dues in his P. O. box when he returns at the end of May.) ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 3 HISTORIAN Vol. 40, No. 2 (Whole No. 191) May 2012 Minutes of the Annual PPHS Membership Meeting at PNSE 2012 Greater Philadelphia Expo Center, Oaks, PA, March 31, 2012 Attendees: George Ashman, Carl Barna (guest), Tom Clarke, David Crossland, Gene Fricks (guest), Suzanne Haney, Steve Kennedy, Rick Leiby, Letty Moon, Gordon Mathis (guest), Bob Rufe, Bill Schultz, Norm Shachat, Gus Spector, and Steve Washburne The meeting was called to order at 1:10 PM by President Rick Leiby with 13 members and 2 guests present (12 members required for a quorum). The minutes of the last Annual Meeting at PNSE 2011, published in the May 2011 Historian, were unanimously approved. The membership unanimously reelected Dick Colberg, Rick Leiby and Dan Telep to serve the Society as the 2014 Class of Directors. Our Treasurer Dick Colberg could not attend this meeting because he was in France. He did supply report which Norm indicated showed a total balance as of Feb. 25, 2012 of $5166 ($4518 in the General Fund + $648 in the Publication fund). The report also showed that our dues income + ad income + donations just barely cover the cost of the printing and distribution of the Historian. He suggested we consider increasing dues from $22.50 to $25.00 starting next year. A motion to that effect was made, seconded and unanimously approved. Norm also indicated that as of the end of February, our membership was 115 (including 4 life members). Ten members had not yet paid their dues and before Dick left for France he sent them fresh bills. They are all dedicated members who probably overlooked the dues notice which was sent out with the Lancaster Monograph. Hopefully Dick will find their dues in his box when he returns at the end of May. Steve Washburne proposed we congratulate those who published the Lancaster Monograph and all those present agreed. The Board of Directors was convened to reelect Rick Leiby as President, Dick Colberg as Treasurer and Norm Shachat as Secretary. The need for someone to handle publicity was again discussed. Steve Kennedy volunteered for the position and was immediately appointed by our President. Steve also indicated that he had lots of web site experience and would work with Rick and Steve Roth on our web site. Tom Clarke indicated he had no immediate plans to publish an update of his Phila Catalogs, but that he continuously updates it electronically on a daily basis. The consensus was that an update would sell well, and that a prepublication subscription might help with initial costs. Tom indicated he can supply the books electronically as well (CD, e-mail, etc.), but he does not have them in PDF format. He indicated that he sold approx. 200 copies of his initial publication. George Ashman suggested that we might increase membership by offering a one-year free subscription to the Historian to people recommended by current members. Most members belong to local clubs where they might find such potential members. It would not cost us anything because we mail 200 to get the bulk rate. I suspect we might be inundated with a blanket advertisement because there are lots of collectors who request anything that is free. The meeting was adjourned at 2:15 P. M. Respectfully submitted, Norm Shachat, Secretary HISTORIAN Vol. 40, No. 2 (Whole No. 191) May 2012 4 Awards to Pennsylvania Exhibits at PNSE 2012 Gold and Reserve Grand: John Barwis “Pre-GPU Philadelphia-Great Britain Mails” Also: American Philatelic Congress Award and PPHS Harry Yeager Award th Gold: Norman Shachat “19 Century Philadelphia Registered Mail” Vermeil: Henry J. Applegate “1926 Sesquicentennial Exhibition” Also: American Assoc. of Philatelic Exhibitors Award and Novice Award Non-Competitive Single-Frame (Complimentary Gold Medal) Bill Schultz “Chester County, Pa., - Early Free Franking” Awards to PPHS Members Not Exhibiting PA Material Gold: Robert G. Rufe “U, S. Special Handling 1925-1959: the Stamps and the Service” Also: APS 1900-1940 Medal and US Stamp Soc. Statue of Freedom Award Gold: Mark Schwartz “Salem Postal History” Also: APS pre-1900 Medal Gold: Bill Schultz “Toll Gates and Toll Houses – Their Progression on Postcards” Also: Sheller Family Award for Best Post Card Eshibit Gold: Steve Washburne “Portugal - Uses of the Mouchon Issue 1895-1910” Also: International Soc. For Portuguese Philately Best Portuguese Exhibit Single Frame Exhibits: Gold: Mark Schwartz “The Postal History of Newbury and Newburyport, Mass.