Need Assistance On This California Cds Location

cj I didn't have grand illusions about the values of these two covers. I am new to postal history and have learned quite a bit from reading posts in this forum.

-MV

MVC, jump on in, all kinds of ways to collect postal history. Since you asked specifically here's the Missouri Postal History Society home page.
As John Becker mentioned, Jim Forte's site is the best value reference. Also check Gary Anderson's site TownCancel

http://www.missouripostalhistory.org/index.htm

http://towncancel.com/

Don't worry that a great many philatelic items these days have very modest commercial values - rather you should be happy that is the case. You could try collecting early California postal history or specialize in things like California Well Fargo mail or the like but doing so would be quite costly as those sorts of things tend to go for substantial amounts. On the other hand, if you want to go for more recent things (1890s and newer) that are also from larger towns and cities like the one you posted you can have an enormous amount of fun collecting for very little cash and you can find them relatively easily. Create your own collecting interest focus area and enjoy yourself.

I'll try emailing one or both of the gentlemen listed on the MO Postal History site to see if the society is still active. The application link on the site has died.

I'm open to exploring different avenues---have quite a few RPPC's and even some that are of my family members. I've got a few plate blocks of stamps from the 1940s onward, a few panes of stamps from the 40s to the 60s and a large box of clipped corners that a woman saved from her job in the 1930s to the late 60s.

-MV

Darn! The only link I tried was the Post Office by County.
Stevensville MIssourri in De Kalb county opened 1858. So the site does have an seemingly accurate post office listing.

Hi guys! I grew up in Gower Missouri, about 20 miles from Stewartsville! As a kid, my doctor was Dr. Larry Ozenberger out of Plattsburg MO (which forms the third point of a rough triangle in that area). A quick google perusal reveals lots of Ozenbergers in that area and so Larry was almost certainly related to Stella. The reference I find to Stella reports that she was born in 1875 ... so these letters were written while she was in her teens ... a penpal or a friend perhaps.

interesting and thanks for posting!

Here's the doctors obit

http://www.newspressnow.com/news/la...04cf5ee.html

Stella

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/94853593

I have quite a few covers addressed to Stella and/or some of her sisters from this time period with various Missouri postmarks. It appears that Stella was quite an active letter writer.

In the case of these two covers, I believe it was a friend.


I'll try to get some more of these scanned and uploaded. Somewhere I have a picture of Will Perry who married Elizabeth Ozenberger. Elizabeth was John's older sister.

How much time does Stella's correspondence cover?
Various Missouri town post marks or various Stewartville postmarks?

Ever get a response from the Missouri Postal History group?

Most of the covers date between 1890 and 1895. I know she was married in 1895 because I came across her wedding announcement/invitation.

Some of the postmarks I can recall of the top of my head are: Hemple, Excelsior Springs, St. Joseph, Lawson.

-MV

Yes, I received an email from the President of the group. He stated that they meet once a year in St. Louis and don't have an Editor presently.

I'll keep in touch with him.

-MV

They have a nice town data base by county, but it only lists open/close dates. Some one must record post marks. Pretty sure Stewartsville has had more than one postmark since it opened in 1855.

Indeed it has here are two different ones

Its a start.
I'm lucky! John Williams already did the hard work, in California Town Post Marks from 1850 to 1935. They are only tracings in stead of scans, but do show us what they look like. Here is my page 19 for the two California counties I collect (Humboldt & Mendocino), which is a combination of William, Richard Helbock scarcity index, and Alan Patera (Postmaster Compensation)and me.

I'd love to see the rest of your covers .. Hemple especially. Talk about a small town in the middle of nowhere haha. It must have been a water stop on the old railroad through that area. Not much there today.

Doing a little research I find that the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad passed through both Stewartsville and Hemple. Some interesting reading here

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanni...eph_Railroad