Another Problem Manuscript

HELP PLEASE... for those with better eyes than mine.

The cover (below) is from from the 1851-1855 period. The cover began life as a Stampless cover, at a "5 cent Unpaid Letter Rate" (effective 1851-1855), addressed to Copenhagen, N.Y. on April 3, 185?.

The cover was received in Copenhagen, N.Y., where it received the "5", indicating unpaid, it had a Scott 10a applied to pay a "3 cent PAID" Forwarding Rate to Watertown, N.Y. The Sc# 10a is tied by a light green 33mm Copenhagen, N.Y, on APR 6. The Sc#10a bears an secondary "squiggle" manuscript thru the middle of the stamp in the same color ink as the manuscript "forwarded" and "Watertown", as verified under fluorescent light. I believe the purpose of the secondary marking on the Sc# 10a was because the Postmaster at Copenhagen felt the cancellation was too light on the stamp and the "squiggle" ink marking was to prevent the stamps' re-use.






SO, if any recognizes this manuscript marking, I would be grateful for your input or suggestions.

Thanks for your help in advance.

Best,
Hal

My vote is for "Fr cpnhg / April 3" indicating From Copenhagen. Weird abbreviations, owing to the travails of writing with a quill or nib pen, are common in this era.

Chris

Hi Chris,
Thanks for the suggestion, however I doubt if this is the solution. If the cover originated from Copenhagen, the Postmaster would have just stamped the cover with the dated 33mm c.d.s. "APRIL 3", versus going to the trouble of abbreviating the town name and stamping only the green "5"; he would have stamped both at the same time. I did consider your suggestion originally, but I eliminated it for the reason stated.

Thanks and happy holidays!

Massurby? Massurky? The first s is a long s, still in common use for people of a certain age at the time.

Massena, NY

The manuscript is the originating location. It went to Copenhagen and Watertown, both in upstate NY. Therefore, the end of the manuscript is probably NY. Massena both fits with the "f" = "ss", the length of the word, and the upstate NY location.

C.

(edited to spell Massena correctly - duh)

Stamps or ratings are applied at the point of origin. Almost certainly, the 3 cent stamp was put on at the origin town and the ms squiggle on the stamp will match the Massena marking ink. At Copenhagen, it was determined the cover needed to be forwarded. The address was corrected and the clerk added the "5" rate for the unpaid forwarding leg and chose to apply the cancel on top of the stamp. A typical 3-paid/5-collect letter traveling 2 legs in the era before free forwarding of mail.

Thanks rev collector and chipg

Thanks also to John Becker. John, your explanation makes sense and I will correct the info that accompanied the cover. I want to go back a re-read the postal regs for the period 18519-1855. I know mail was allowed to be mailed unpaid point-to-point, however, I'm not sure that "unforwarded mail" received the same favor.

Again, a big "Thank You" for everyone's assistance. Best wishes to all for the Holiday Season and a Happy, Healthy New Year!!!