Dayton Ohio 1870-S National Home For Disabled Volunteer Soldiers Cover And Blue Cancel

This was in with a lot of other messy covers that Dad had accumulated. This came from the National Home... in Dayton and appears to be addressed to PM Gettysburg, Darke County, Ohio. I deciphered Gettysburg by the process of elimination since the "Getty" part of this addressee looks more like "Mays" to me. Since I couldn't find a village in Ohio that seemed to match that or any similar name, I narrowed my focus to Darke County and concluded the horizontal line above the "Getty" was a failed attempt to cross the two "t's." No other village name in Darke County was close.

The stamp appears to be Scott 156. There is a mark in the appropriate pearl. It's faint. I've seen clearer crescent marks, but I am assuming this mark is the crescent.

In addition, we lived across the Ohio/Indiana state line from Darke County. I don't know that Dad ever went to estate sales in Darke County, but he often picked up postal history in the '50s and '60s on our side of the state line in Randolph County, Indiana. So, proximity supports my Gettysburg in Darke County idea. Does anyone have a better idea?

My primary question is regarding the CDS. I know Dayton had used blue ink at times. However, this doesn't look like a Dayton CDS. The last three letters on the right side of the CDS appear to be "OME." I searched the Ohio villages listing and found only Rome, Ohio, as a possible match, but the layout of the CDS lettering suggests a name considerably longer than Rome. Also, the only letter that's somewhat legible on the left side of the CDS appears to be an "N."

There may be enough space around the CDS for NATIONAL HOME, but I don't know if they would (or could) have used their own CDS for mail. My searches via Google and an older PDF of Ohio fancy cancels (and the online fancy cancels database at Stamp Smarter) provided no clues.

I'm hoping there is a knowledgeable Ohio postal historian or two here who can help explain what this cancel might be. Thanks!

Yes, addressed to Gettysburg, Darke Co, OH (although then officially "Gettysburgh", losing the H in 1893)

Origin is National Military Home, Ohio (1873-1914). Yours may be a different device, but this is from Jim Forte's website close to the same era:

Agree with John. Prior to 1873 the office was "National Military Asylum." It's still a VA facility today.

Thank you, John, for checking Jim Forte's site. Thank you and Paperhistory for providing a little more of the institution's history.

I didn't mention that the cover's contents are gone. It's too bad this cover is in such terrible shape. The nicest thing about it is the obliterator strike.