#26 (2) On One Cover - "North Blackstone"

Nice cover. I only live a relatively short distance from the small town of Blackstone, Mass., and must say I never heard of North Blackstone. Good reason for it: According to Jim Forte's Postal History website, the post office at North Blackstone was only in existence from 1846-1869! I imagine that postmark is relatively scarce as few covers would have survived 145+ years.

Wow NICE cover! Congrats!

A little more on the addressee of the cover, who I believe is Miss A.C Stearns (misspelled Stearnes on the cover). She was the daughter of the Reverend Samuel Stearns and his wife Abigail Stearns. Rev. Stearns was the Pastor of the Trinitarian Congregational Church and Society of Bedford, Massachusetts back in the day. However, even to the present day, there are a number of local buildings and historical artifacts in the Town of Bedford, Massachusetts attributed to the Stearns family.

The addressee's full name, Miss A.C. Stearns, was, in fact, Ann Catherine Stearns. She remained unmarried throughout her life. She was born in Bedford, Massachusetts on October 18, 1816 and died circa 1898.

Interestingly, an old ebay listing shows another period cover addressed to her:

You guys are awesome. thanks

Oh why is the address changed to NJ?

Rizzi, that looks to me like a very nice example of a forwarded cover. The addressee apparently relocated from Mass to NJ, so the cover had to be forwarded (remailed).

There is a probable connection. According to the Genealogy of Bedford (Mass.) Old Families, there is reference that one of Ann C. Stearns brothers, Jonathan French Stearns, was also a Pastor and "accepted a unanimous call from the First Presbyterian Church of Newark, NJ and was installed as Pastor of that church on December 13, 1849."

Therefore, it would make sense that Ann C. Stearns may have stayed with her brother for a time, either for a visit or perhaps a vacation.

Both covers appear to have been written/addressed by the same hand.
don

wt1 you should start a tv program... love the way you research the names and addresses.

Agreed! I'd be glued to that channel!