Jenny2U: That's an interesting bi-sect cover you posted here. I had to look up where the Monument, Mass. post office was (and why I hadn't seen a postmark like that before) and there's good reason: The DPO was only in operation from 1828-1884.
Although the addressee of the cover, Miss Clara A. Burgess (b. 1834) was single all of her life and was listed in the US Census as either "no occupation" or "keeping house" one has to assume she assisted her father under whose house she lived. Her father, on the other hand, was a noted Sea Captain with a very impressive write-up in the history of that region of Massachusetts as outlined here:
Quote:Captain Seth S. Burgess. — This well-known resident lives in the town of Bourne, on the eastern shore of Buzzards bay, in the quiet retirement of his mature years. He was born in this vicinity, May 18, 1810, and is a descendant of the illustrious Thomas Burgess, who with a few others, in 1637, planted the first permanent settlement in Sandwich. Any who have
inherited this honorable family name have a just right to be proud of this heroic Puritan ancestor, who died in 1685 and whose grave was honored with the only inscribed stone erected to any Pilgrim of the first generation. The male line of descent from this pioneer to Captain Burgess is direct, being: Thomas, John, Samuel, Thomas, Covill, Perez and Seth S.
Perez Burgess spent his later years at farming, but was captain of coasters until 1820. His son, Seth S., then a lad of ten years, accompanied him on his last voyage, and the next year went with his uncle, Jabez Burgess, as cook at three dollars per month. From that time his opportunity for obtaining an education was confined to the winter months. At eighteen years of age he was mate, and the next year he took charge of the sloop Deborah, in the employ of his uncle, Ellis Swift. After a captaincy of three years in this sloop, while at Fall River with a cargo of lumber, he met Lovell & Burr, lumber merchants, who offered him a brig in the coasting and West India trade, which he accepted. For a few years he successfully managed the brig and the schooner Patriot, visiting Bremen and other European ports.
In 1838 he purchased the sloop Meteor, which he commanded two years. He then coasted south with varied and successful experiences, visiting South America and other intervening ports in the brig Massachusetts. During most of the time for the next twenty-two years he was in the employ of Thomas Whitridge & Co. of Baltimore, in the Brazilian trade, commanding the following vessels: The schooner Clara in 1851, the barque Mondamitt in 1856, the ship Gray Eagle in 1861, and the barque Yamoyden in 1868. These vessels, with the exception of the Gray Eagle, were built expressly for Captain Burgess. Mr. Whitridge rarely insured the goods entrusted to the captain's care, because he felt confident of their safety. In 1873, after forty-four years in command of every kind of vessel,from sloops to ships, without the loss of a man or vessel and even without a serious accident, the captain retired to enjoy the fruits of his labors.
September 3, 1833, he married Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Reuben Collins. She died January 13, 1845, leaving two children;
Clara A., who still resides at the homestead, and Seth M. now of New York City. Captain Burgess married January 3, 1850, Lucy E., youngest sister of his first wife. She died August 9, 1879.
The captain's residence is charmingly situated in a quiet rural community, and as a typical New England homestead we make it the subject of the accompanying illustration. It is older than the Declaration of American Independence and is rich in historic associations. It was for years the home of Dea. Daniel Perry, by whose ancestor it was erected. It passed into the hands of Ezekiel Thacher, of whom the captain purchased it in 1832. The original house has received various additions and improvements, but its identity is by no means destroyed.
Political preferment has not been the aim of Captain Burgess, although he has been active in the dominant party — a democrat until 1861 and a republican since. His father, an exemplary Methodist, early taught him the principles of religion and his favorite precept was "Seth, deal honestly." His life has been that marked by his resolution in the first forecastle, seventy years ago. Captain Burgess early identified himself with the Methodist church at Bourne, of which for nearly fifty years he has been an officer, his consistent Christian example and liberal hand adding their full share to its prosperity. By his thoughtful liberality and sympathy for the suffering, he has firmly bound to himself the hearts of the poor and unfortunate. From his father, Perez, through a long line of sterling worth and from his mother, Lydia, daughter of Stephen Swift, also a descendant of Puritan forefathers, the subject of this sketch can look back with pride to the foundation of those just principles of life, the application of which, on sea and on land, has secured for him a competence and an unruffled sea in his last days of life's voyage.
Here's an image from the 1870 US Census that connects the family to the Monument, Mass. post office at that time:
Posted 04/13/2014 10:49 am
