The 11-cent Rutherford B. Hayes stamp (Scott 563) was the first of a new series of ordinary postage stamps, the Fourth Bureau Issue, that were issued during 1922 and 1923. It was formally released on October 4, 1922 in a public ceremony at Hayes' hometown, Fremont, Ohio. The date coincided with the one-hundredth anniversary of the 19th President's birth date. For the first time, a city other than Washington with a link to the subject of the stamp, was designated to sell a stamp on the First Day. In addition, a First Day ceremony, the first of its kind in this country, was held at Fremont. The stamp was also made available on the same day at the Philatelic Stamp Agency in Washington, DC.
Superintendent of Stamps Michael Eidsness, representing the Post Office Department, presided over the First Day ceremony for the new Hayes stamp at Fremont. Just prior to the ceremony, he had the Fremont Post Office service for him at least five FDCs, including the above cover to his boss, Third Assistant Postmaster W. Irving Glover. The covers are all addressed in Eidsness' handwriting.
Eidsness and dealer Edward C. Worden had become good friends in July when a new special delivery stamp (Scott E12) had been released in Washington, DC. Even though Worden had several Hayes FDCs serviced in Washington, he overlooked the significance of the Fremont FDC and had none of his own covers serviced at Fremont.
Leo Rutstein was Edward C. Worden's FDC servicing assistant. His cover and Worden's cover have plate number singles from the only printing plate, #14058, that was available to make stamps for the First Day at Fremont.
Charles Warren was the Chief Clerk of the Office of the Third Assistant Postmaster General. He started out as a messenger boy. in the Post Office Department. There is no record of him ever being a collector.
James Keogh was an assistant messenger at the United States Post Office Department in Washington, DC. It was nice of Eidsness, the superintendent of the Department of Stamps, to send him this FDC. It, like those addressed to Worden and Rutstein, has a plate number single, though this one is from a side position rather than a top position.
78 FDCs from Fremont are known to exist today. FDC collecting was still in its infancy in 1922. The covers can be observed on the internet at hayesfdc.wordpress.com.
Posted 12/19/2025 01:14 am
