I plan on continuing this blog. "Mother" (Jenni) Paterson will still be the topic at this point as I believe I have found an abolitionist that may have gone unnoticed in US history. The facts are that Jenni wrote a letter in 1837 that predicted the Civil War. The letter originated from Pocotaglio, SC where the famous abolitionist Grimke family of Philadelphia had a second home.
As requested, the next thing I will do is transcribe the letter. It is a bit time consuming; it may not be accmplished either today or tomorroow. Also, I may turn this blog into a site. Stay tuned.
Tuesday, May 16, 2017
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Mother Paterson Part IV
Gee, how far can I go w/ "Mother?" Truth is, I haven't scratched the surface. I recently found out that the Battle of Pocotaligo has been made into a board type game by a gentleman named Robert McNair through his company Western Carolina Historical Research. Who knew? Certainly this battle was not of epic proportions. Several regiments for the Union, and a couple for the Confederates. For my purposes, it is his map of the immediate area that makes the game well worth the price. It is a typical hex type counter driven game, a system most nerdy grognards like McNair and myself are used to- old school. The map may be valuable for what is not shown as for what is shown. Spottsylvania is not shown.
Then there is the question of Mary Chesnut (1823-1886.) Did she cross paths w/ Jane? Chesnut, of course, was a astute observant of the Civil War, travelling between South Carolina and Richmond for most of the war. Her diary is now considered a classic of Civil War history from a Southern perspective. Chesnut probably at least knew of Jane, as both were in the same place at the same time, and in the same monied class. At the time of Jane's passing in 1858, Chesnut would have been 35. Mary's husband James inherited one of the largest plantations in South Carolina, Mulberry, located near Camden. As time went on, he was away from home on political business, and Mary stayed at Mulberry. With over 400 slaves, they were one of richest families of the South. Mary had her roots in Charleston and frequently visited. Pocotaligo is close, and Jane probably sought out the cosmopolitan city as well.
Then there is the question of Mary Chesnut (1823-1886.) Did she cross paths w/ Jane? Chesnut, of course, was a astute observant of the Civil War, travelling between South Carolina and Richmond for most of the war. Her diary is now considered a classic of Civil War history from a Southern perspective. Chesnut probably at least knew of Jane, as both were in the same place at the same time, and in the same monied class. At the time of Jane's passing in 1858, Chesnut would have been 35. Mary's husband James inherited one of the largest plantations in South Carolina, Mulberry, located near Camden. As time went on, he was away from home on political business, and Mary stayed at Mulberry. With over 400 slaves, they were one of richest families of the South. Mary had her roots in Charleston and frequently visited. Pocotaligo is close, and Jane probably sought out the cosmopolitan city as well.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Mother Paterson Part III
It has been a month since I wrote Mother Paterson Part II, so I thought I'd better get to Part III:
The scan here, Page 1 of the Jane Eliza Neilsen letter of 31 Dec. 1837, seems to have a problem w/ light-dark, but it may be seen better by an adjustment w/ Picasa, which I really like, maybe because it has most of the bells and whistles that a really expensive program has, although I have never had the pleasure of playing around w/ a really expensive program, primarily because they are really expensive.
Anyway, I want to focus on the contents of the letter here, because, well, because Mother is pretty darn interesting. She predicted the Civil War well before it took place- some 23 years.
"Predicted" is used w/ license here. She actually warned that it would occur if the opposing political parties involved, Whigs and Democrats, tried to force the issue. The issue, of course, was slavery. But while it looks as if Mother had some wonderful attribute like clairvoyance or an impeccable understanding of national politics, it might be simply that her "vision" of the future was being talked about all the time by well-read people, and had been talked about w/ regularity since 1788, the year of her birth, and the year The Federalist Papers were taking shape in the national press. Since 1833, especially in South Carolina, it was probably something that people were discussing at dinner every other night- if the dinner table was of the class of Mother's table.
Jane E. Neilsen was from New York State, with property on the Hudson up stream from New York City. She was a Rensselaer, one of the most wealthy and powerful families of New York City at the time. It appears, but more research is needed, that the family had a home in Pocotaligo, SC, a town just outside of Charleston. The name of the property was "Spottsylvania." This name is written on the byline of her letters from Pocotaligo, but so far, no reference to this place can found in any other work, paper or map, but there is a State of South Carolina battle marker at the edge of a busy highway. The area residents had been hostile to Union forces in a battle in 1862 in which Union forces were ambushed by the Confederates. In his campaign, Sherman used Pocotaligo as a base in Jan. 1865, and U.S. Grant paid a visit during that time. Sherman may have done his part to depopulate the town. It appears to have never recovered from the war, and its post office closed in 1890.
More, more, more soon.
Anyway, I want to focus on the contents of the letter here, because, well, because Mother is pretty darn interesting. She predicted the Civil War well before it took place- some 23 years.
Jane E. Neilsen was from New York State, with property on the Hudson up stream from New York City. She was a Rensselaer, one of the most wealthy and powerful families of New York City at the time. It appears, but more research is needed, that the family had a home in Pocotaligo, SC, a town just outside of Charleston. The name of the property was "Spottsylvania." This name is written on the byline of her letters from Pocotaligo, but so far, no reference to this place can found in any other work, paper or map, but there is a State of South Carolina battle marker at the edge of a busy highway. The area residents had been hostile to Union forces in a battle in 1862 in which Union forces were ambushed by the Confederates. In his campaign, Sherman used Pocotaligo as a base in Jan. 1865, and U.S. Grant paid a visit during that time. Sherman may have done his part to depopulate the town. It appears to have never recovered from the war, and its post office closed in 1890.
More, more, more soon.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Scope and Thesis of Blog
I am starting this blog because as of this writing I have not found a forum devoted to Stampless Folded Letters and Stampless Covers. Stampless letters and covers are certainly covered in other writings, but here we will concentrate at looking at the thing in of itself. The subjects can be myriad: The content in historical context, type of paper used, repair of letters, ethics, population of letters, writing styles, the market, the treatment by archivists and institutions, holdings and many more areas not thought of elsewhere.
The years covered here, 1800-1855, represent a period when stampless letters grew, peaked and waned. Around 1800, paper began to be circulated on a more popular venue, as it was produced en-mass by industrialized methods. Starting here we see an increase of letters, or what more formal institutions call "papers" or "personal documents," or just plain "documents," and of course philatelists call them "stampless letters." Is there a problem with semantics? A lot of people in these fields do not think so, but I do. In order to create an increase in accessibility, keywords must be adopted.
I have just seen that the 4th Annual Postal History Symposium, hosted by the National Postal Museum of the Smithsonian Institution in 2009, (held at the APS headquarters in Bellefonte, PA) has at least two papers that are relevant to the stampless letter: First is Catherine J. Golden's
“Why is a Raven like a Writing Desk?” - Post Office Reform, Collectible Commodities and Victorian Culture [paper | presentation]
and second, Michael Laurence's Icons of Reform, Postal and Otherwise
[paper | presentation]
As far as I know, Golden is not a philatelist, but an academic looking in at the subject. Laurence is a well known philatelist looking outwards. However, I have yet to read these articles in depth.
Whatever this stuff is called, the general public started to utilize it as a medium for communication, and with increasing production, left more of it lying around for today's historian to analyze. Volume peaked in the 1840s. But in 1844, Morse Code entered the world. This was possibly the biggest invention for communication, and one that truly started an era known as the Information Age, in my opinion.
It appears from what is seen at auction, in holdings, accumulations, and collections, the years 1845-51 produced the greatest amount of stampless letters being written. This is only an educated guess. In 1855, the United States Post Office (USPO) made stamps compulsory on letters beginning Apr. 1, 1855. Scholars, and I can not say I am one, know more about the competition in communication after 1855, which might be looked at as between the USPO, the telegraph, and to an extent rail and ships, as these two became faster. But what about newspapers? Possibly they were the only medium to battle stampless letters for information.
Even with papers, the USPO dominated communication from its inception in 1789 until the telegraph gained more widespread use in the 1850s. Post offices were built around the country to take in and deliver mail, i.e. communication. In fact, it is possible to gauge the amount of mail sent by looking at USPO records. However, even though the post office grew after the introduction of the telegraph, it did not grow as fast. It lost its monopoly as a vehicle for communication.
Stampless was rendered old. It was, in fact, old when it became popular. Huh? Yes, as its use increased by virtue of a better travel network, that network was exploited by the USPO w/ the introduction of stamps in 1847.
Not popular at first, stamps became dynamic for the public because one did not have to go to a post office to mail a letter. Of course, not everywhere could this be done. It really only was possible in the area between Washington DC and Boston. Stamps were the now, the wow, the more efficient way for Americans to send their letters. For the USPO, stamps were the vehicle to stay profitable against new forms of technology. In 1851, the USPO gave an incentive for the public to use stamps. A 3c stamp was offered to send a letter up to 3000 miles, but if not prepaid, it was 5c. This was only the latest indication of rates going down through the efficiency of physical travel. Incredibly, the rate would fall even further to 2c in any territory or state in the geographical area of what would eventually become 48 states. The rate would not rise to 4c until 1958; a span of 107 years!
The years covered here, 1800-1855, represent a period when stampless letters grew, peaked and waned. Around 1800, paper began to be circulated on a more popular venue, as it was produced en-mass by industrialized methods. Starting here we see an increase of letters, or what more formal institutions call "papers" or "personal documents," or just plain "documents," and of course philatelists call them "stampless letters." Is there a problem with semantics? A lot of people in these fields do not think so, but I do. In order to create an increase in accessibility, keywords must be adopted.
I have just seen that the 4th Annual Postal History Symposium, hosted by the National Postal Museum of the Smithsonian Institution in 2009, (held at the APS headquarters in Bellefonte, PA) has at least two papers that are relevant to the stampless letter: First is Catherine J. Golden's
“Why is a Raven like a Writing Desk?” - Post Office Reform, Collectible Commodities and Victorian Culture [paper | presentation]
and second, Michael Laurence's Icons of Reform, Postal and Otherwise
[paper | presentation]
As far as I know, Golden is not a philatelist, but an academic looking in at the subject. Laurence is a well known philatelist looking outwards. However, I have yet to read these articles in depth.
Whatever this stuff is called, the general public started to utilize it as a medium for communication, and with increasing production, left more of it lying around for today's historian to analyze. Volume peaked in the 1840s. But in 1844, Morse Code entered the world. This was possibly the biggest invention for communication, and one that truly started an era known as the Information Age, in my opinion.
It appears from what is seen at auction, in holdings, accumulations, and collections, the years 1845-51 produced the greatest amount of stampless letters being written. This is only an educated guess. In 1855, the United States Post Office (USPO) made stamps compulsory on letters beginning Apr. 1, 1855. Scholars, and I can not say I am one, know more about the competition in communication after 1855, which might be looked at as between the USPO, the telegraph, and to an extent rail and ships, as these two became faster. But what about newspapers? Possibly they were the only medium to battle stampless letters for information.
Even with papers, the USPO dominated communication from its inception in 1789 until the telegraph gained more widespread use in the 1850s. Post offices were built around the country to take in and deliver mail, i.e. communication. In fact, it is possible to gauge the amount of mail sent by looking at USPO records. However, even though the post office grew after the introduction of the telegraph, it did not grow as fast. It lost its monopoly as a vehicle for communication.
Stampless was rendered old. It was, in fact, old when it became popular. Huh? Yes, as its use increased by virtue of a better travel network, that network was exploited by the USPO w/ the introduction of stamps in 1847.
Scott #1 - 1847 Mint 5c Franklin, Value $6750.00 (2012)
Not popular at first, stamps became dynamic for the public because one did not have to go to a post office to mail a letter. Of course, not everywhere could this be done. It really only was possible in the area between Washington DC and Boston. Stamps were the now, the wow, the more efficient way for Americans to send their letters. For the USPO, stamps were the vehicle to stay profitable against new forms of technology. In 1851, the USPO gave an incentive for the public to use stamps. A 3c stamp was offered to send a letter up to 3000 miles, but if not prepaid, it was 5c. This was only the latest indication of rates going down through the efficiency of physical travel. Incredibly, the rate would fall even further to 2c in any territory or state in the geographical area of what would eventually become 48 states. The rate would not rise to 4c until 1958; a span of 107 years!
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Mother Paterson 31 Dec 1837, Part II
"Mother Paterson" is really Jane Eliza Neilson Paterson (1788-1858.) J.E., as she signs off, has left at least three letters for us today. There probably are other letters located at Princeton, the New Jersey Historical Society or at William Paterson University. JE is the daughter-in-law of William Paterson, signer of the Constitution and Supreme Court Justice, and wife of William Bell Paterson, Justice Paterson's son.. She is writing her son William, who did not go by William III, or William Jr. Jr., but simply William. This makes research even more fun. Not.
Before I go on, I am wondering in my young "career" as a researcher why genealogy is shunned by historians. I am finding valuable primary pieces within the genealogy database Ancestry.com than going ways which would leave this avenue untouched. Yet very few people using Ancestry seem to have an interest in a historical perspective. I'm not sure it's their fault. After all, very few are aware that these stampless letters are floating around. Historians are no more aware.
Even fewer are aware that these letters float in the world of philately. I don't think it has ever been discussed much, but archivists apparently are not much interested in the postal markings that bring these letters iuto the possession of postal historians, and postal historians are vis-a-vis in the content of the letter, only the markings. Which has a stronger claim to the object at hand? Both do. Now we have a medium in which both could cooperate with each other. Will they, given the opportunity?
More tomorrow. I will leave w/ an unabashed plug for this Mother Paterson sfl currently on eBay.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170647772142&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT
Before I go on, I am wondering in my young "career" as a researcher why genealogy is shunned by historians. I am finding valuable primary pieces within the genealogy database Ancestry.com than going ways which would leave this avenue untouched. Yet very few people using Ancestry seem to have an interest in a historical perspective. I'm not sure it's their fault. After all, very few are aware that these stampless letters are floating around. Historians are no more aware.
Even fewer are aware that these letters float in the world of philately. I don't think it has ever been discussed much, but archivists apparently are not much interested in the postal markings that bring these letters iuto the possession of postal historians, and postal historians are vis-a-vis in the content of the letter, only the markings. Which has a stronger claim to the object at hand? Both do. Now we have a medium in which both could cooperate with each other. Will they, given the opportunity?
More tomorrow. I will leave w/ an unabashed plug for this Mother Paterson sfl currently on eBay.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170647772142&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT
Mother Paterson Letter of 31 Dec 1837
Stampless Letters have no dedicated forum or group. We see many articles and other writings within other magazines and clubs or societies or online sites, but nothing exclusively encompasses this area of postal history.
I do, in fact, have plenty to say about Stampless Letters that has not been discussed. There are interesting observations that can emerge about the time, place and society in which they were written; yet, it may be that the studier of these letters will become the studiee. Huh? Well, OK, I am a historian and a librarian and a philosopher and some say an as@#... never mind. But all this talk is really in full swing on a couple of sites I follow where the subject is postal history:
http://www.philamercury.com/
http://philgen.org/
First, Philamercury. It contains many of the big names in stamp collecting- otherwise known as Philately. However, since my ego will not fit on that board, I started this blog. Really I just want to emphasize the stampless letter, that's all.
Philgen is the child of Jim Miller, who is a philatelist and a genealogist. Like me, Jim sees postal history as history, and this history needs to be captured in digital form to share w/ the public. Jim sees the value of each cover, letter, manuscript and folded letter in an overlapping genealogical sense. Both Philgen and Philamercury are open source sites and encourage the public to contribute in order to digitally capture the multitude of material that is floating around the world- American letters do simply reside in America.
Each letter is usually written by one individual and is, of course, unique. So say 175-200 years have passed and one wonders who the heck the person is that wrote it? For example, I am working on one letter of about 3 I have found from a woman in Pocotaligo, SC. One heck of a story emerges. ...more later.
Monday, May 30, 2011
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