Is This A U84 Cover? Great Penmanship To A General.

Just received this yesterday. My limited resources makes me think it is a U84 but I'm not sure. btw, I bought it for the penmanship not the stamped envelope. I have seen that some members are adept at identifying who sent or received mail. How does one go about learning how to do this kind of research. I have tried a number of times but spend too much time searching without results.

Just now, I performed a Google search for "general mccreary erie pennsylvania". Here's what I got:
(David Berkley McCreary, Birth: Feb. 27, 1826, Death : Feb. 4, 1906. - Civil War Union Brevet Brigadier General. He served as a 1st Lieutenant in one Erie Regiment of the Pennsylvania militia at the start of the Civil War. He then enlisted in the 145th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, rising to Lieutenant Colonel and commander of the regiment. He was brevetteed Brigadier General, US Volunteers on March 13, 1865 for "gallant and meritorious services during the war". He served as Adjutant General of the Pennsylvania National Guard from 1867 to 1870.)

Cheers, Robert

Not for sure, it appears to be a U83. It looks more cream than amber. It has a little toning but a real nice looking cover.

Very nice cover!
Everything is nice about it... color, penmanship, cancel, ect...

I think the best way to get the info is just put as much as possible into google.

Here's a picture of the addressee, David B. McCreary:



Incidentally, he was at one point the Lieutenant Governor for the State of Ohio. (Reference is apparently in error. Although it is contained in a biography of David B. McCreary, it is not listed as such by the State of Ohio.)

Thank you all for for your input. And, wow, even a photo of Gen. McCreary! 1847bill, my Postal Service Guide to US Stamps shows a picture of a U84 and says it is cream paper and mine looks to have the same paper color. Amber examples appear very yellowish in the Guide. I had googled some people but either there were no results or maybe the person was just not famous enough to be found.

Is that picture from a book?

I'll go with U82, white paper. Here are the three colors mentioned in the thread (white, amber, cream):

Not sure, exactly. Here's the source of it (advance down to the ninth entry, I believe):

http://www.145thpvi.org/bios_details.htm

Also, here's some further information on David B. McCreary based on his later political career:

That's awesome info on that cover. I was also interested in that pre-stamped envelope as I too have a few. I did not know about the paper color variants. Very cool.

Tho not necessarily the same die, Here is sample range of colors for you.

Is there a book or a leaflet that has a sample piece of paper of each type? If not, there should be...

As for a color chart of the various papers used in embossed envelopes, there is one available for $20 at this link:

http://www.upss.org/code/publicatio...99b5234aa151

Holy smokes it that ever cool! I'm buying me one. Man I just LOVE this site...

Maybe mine is a white paper cover and with its age is mutating towards cream. More great information wt1