D.s. Kennedy Letters

Newly acquired letter sent to David Sproat Kennedy in New York 1853.
Second in my collection.




Kennedy was an agent for the Bank of Montreal, my current employer. Thinking of starting a collection of BofM material.

I also like the Suspension Bridge cancel on this one.

Let's see you Kennedy letters!

Here's the other cover. I'd posted it on another thread, but the image has been pooched by Photobucket, to I'll repost it here. And I'm unable to update that thread, but it does have a nice bio of Kennedy posted by our friend wt1

https://goscf.com/t/43147&SearchTer....,s.,kennedy

From St. Catharines 1850




The letter has been adjusted in photoshop, since it's a bit faded.

jamesw..Very nice covers..Dont let BMO find out about them, cause they may want it for their museum...haha

Robert

The Kennedy correspondence is enormous.
I've had several over the years. There are many great covers addressed to him.

Yes, the DS Kennedy correspondence is huge. How about a pair of retaliatory rate covers from Halifax to New York? Both prepaid 1 shilling (24 cents) in Halifax. The top cover rated 29 due (24 cent retaliatory rate plus the 5 cent inland rate from Boston to New York) sent on a Cunard steamer to Boston and the bottom cover rated 24 due (the retaliatory rate) but no inland postage because it was sent on a Cunard steamer to New York.

Those are terrific usages from Halifax.
I don't think Kennedy accepted mail unless it was collectible.

How about a single rate / double rate cover. Single packet rate of 1 shilling (by weight) from Halifax to Boston and then treated as a double rate letter (by number of sheets) from Boston to New York (double 18¾ = 37½ +2 cent ship letter fee = 39½)

Here's my third Kennedy letter 1851 from Woodstock UC via Lewiston




Some may contest my assertion that this is dated 1851. Admittedly the handwriting looks like 1854 or 1857. Even the sellers notes on this stated it was 1857. But the transit cancels on the back, especially the Hamilton one, distinctly read 1851.



And wert, the bank just finished celebrating it's 200th anniversary, and I did get to see some of the stuff in archives. Pretty impressive!

Definitely an 1851 cover - 1854 or 1857 would be a 6d treaty rate

Picked up another Kennedy last weekend. This one has a nice Band of Montreal letter head.

Here are some others I've acquired recently. Two from our friend Mr Watermark (hope you don't mind my namedropping).

Just a bit of 'social postal history'. On the second letter from the top on this thread, the letter posted from St Catharines in 1850 is the name T. R. Merritt. This is Thomas Rodman Merritt, a successful Niagara area businessman, and a son of William Hamilton Merritt, the founder of the Welland Canal which first connected Lakes Ontario and Erie, and revolutionized trade on the Niagara frontier in the early 19th century.

Thomas Rodman Merritt

That's the guy, wert! Nice 'stach, eh?
His home which still stands on the banks of the 12 Mile Creek in St. Catharines (which was also the route the 3rd Welland Canal (there have been 4) is now a highly respected art gallery called Rodman Hall.
In fact, now that I think of it, that was the first place I ever showed my artwork publicly, at a student art exhibit in 1969. I was in the third grade!