Confederate A2 10c????

Is this what I think it is? and how do I get to the details of it, without ruining it?

I checked the 2010 Specialized catalog from the library so I am a regular source of knowledge know. It is fun answering questions, because I have to look it up, and learn what I would not think to study on my own. Yes, you have a CSA A2 Scott#2b (dark blue color). It trends for used at 275 in F/VF. On a cover, Scott #2 (not variety) on a cover lists as $325. Of course the stamp is damaged, but still one heck of a cover.

Are you aware Elijah Roberts is the father of the portrait artist
William Anderson Roberts 1837-1899?

Elijah died two years after this letter was delivered,
if I read 1862 correctly.

Could we guess this is a letter from his son during the civil war?

Guess: CSA #2, 10¢ blue Paterson printing with 4 large margins all around, tied RICHMOND / Va. cds on cover to Yanceyville, N.C.

Here is a sibling to your cover,
I am very poor at US geography, but a
william anderson roberts, spent a long time
in moore hospital NC, I have no idea
if this is near Richmond, but may explain the letters.

He became addicted to opium from surgery on wounds no doubt
until his death in 1900.

What events had to conspire that two covers, addressed to the same person and in the same handwriting have survived, one in Australia and one in the US??

I am of the same awe, 'humpy,
however both covers are in the US.

History is out there, just waiting for us to discover.
Is this not a magic part of philately?

Suddenly this poor fellow, his tragic circumstances,
(NC did not want part of the civil war, but bounded on three
sides didn't have much of a choice)
seem like yesterday, rather than 140 yers ago.

Richmond, VA is 160 miles as the crow flies from Yancyville, NC and a bit of a slog at best, even in these days. While Richmond is rolling farm country, the route south becomes more mountains.

Thanks for the historical connections.

interesting cover and usage--too bad the stamp is destroyed

The thing that nags me,
could the family discussed here, be black?
I know nothing of the circumstance during the civil
war and conscription, and the part the black population played.
Any comments?

PS: I think your cover is an important piece of Caswell county
history, personally I would be seeking advice whether the
local historical society would like the cover, which you
could leave to them at some later date.

Not trying to get into a racial thing here or any discussion of reparations, but slavery is a part of our history and as such... the thing I've come to understand, is that many freed slaves actually respected their former owners, and took their surnames and stayed on, or left, to begin their own lives.

None of the immigration records for our family show any black persons coming here with my maiden name... yet, as dad's ancestors settled in the Carolina colonies in the late 1600's and migrated west through Georgia. Yet, there are certainly a good number of prominent blacks with that last name, some, who have had very successful sports careers in the last 30 or so years and be easily recognized.

It has been estimated that over 65,000 Southern blacks were in the Confederate ranks. Over 13,000 of these, "saw
the elephant" also known as meeting the enemy in combat. These Black Confederates included both slave and free.
The Confederate Congress did not approve blacks to be officially enlisted as soldiers (except as musicians), until
late in the war. But in the ranks it was a different story. Many Confederate officers did not obey the mandates of
politicians, they frequently enlisted blacks with the simple criteria, "Will you fight?" Historian Ervin Jordan,
explains that "biracial units" were frequently organized "by local Confederate and State militia Commanders in
response to immediate threats in the form of Union raids". Dr. Leonard Haynes, an African-American professor at
Southern University, stated, "When you eliminate the black Confederate soldier, you've eliminated the history of
the South."


http://www.37thtexas.org/html/BlkHist.html

I understand where you are going with this and apologize for going down a different tack than your meaning.

No apologies required Barb,
Digital conversations often make for misundersandings,
No problems, we are all nice people here