Some nice material there. Don't overlook that postmarked postal stationery item addressed to Mrs. Harrison Gray Otis of Boston, Mass. She was quite a well-to-do person who made a name for herself in Civil War relief in her native Boston, Massachusetts:
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Elizabeth Boardman Otis - Always known as Mrs. Harrison Gray Otis, she headed the Boston chapter of the Sanitary Commission, raised money, and organized women to provide aid to soldiers in the field (bandages, uniforms, blankets, etc.).
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When you look at the names of the Bostonians who got this whole antislavery fervor underway, they're not household names in the rest of the country. They're not like Grant and Lincoln. Who's heard of Mrs. Harrison Gray Otis outside of Boston? Otis, one of the lesser-known subjects, was a flamboyant socialite who directed the massive Boston relief effort for Union soldiers. At close to 70 years old, she reported to her post nearly every day for the duration of the war. That relief work raised $1 million in goods and services, including 19 pairs of mittens that are acknowledged in an 1861 certificate to a Mrs. Appleton "for the soldiers who leave Boston."
http://archive.org/stream/reportofm.../n7/mode/2uphttp://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/moa/ABX...t;view=imageNOTE: I believe the previous posts are incorrect in referring to the "first" Mrs. Harrison Gray Otis (a/k/a Sally Foster Otis (1770-1838)).
The correct references shown in my post are for the "second" Mrs. Harrison Gray Otis (a/k/a Elizabeth Boardman Otis (1796-1873)) who was active in Civil War Relief.
This also fits with the fact that the cover shown is from the 1853-55 series of postal stationery, for which the first Mrs. Harrison Gray Otis would have been deceased before those envelopes were available. 
Posted 06/16/2013 05:50 am
