Hello From Nj. Yes We Have Trees Contrary To Popular Belief

Hello All,

My name is Mark. I am here for a few reasons. To learn some things about stamps, covers, postal paraphernalia. I am also here to learn more about something I call the "Steele Box".


The "Steele Box" and "Copper Plate" origin...

In the mid 1990's my wife worked as a manager in a bank in the town of Newton, NJ in Sussex County. I do not know the exact age of the building. The Original bank from where the "Steel Box" came from was across the square and it was called "The Sussex Bank". The bank building was located on the main square in the town. It was 3 or 4 stories tall and it had a large basement full of dark rooms. This was the kind of basement people just don't wander around in. It had a active 1 1/2 foot stream flowing through it, there were rats and other things around as well. It also had a fallout shelter with boxes and boxes of war rations in it. In the basement there was also an old vault that was no longer being used, it was always open. In it there were a number of things, a box in which I still have.

In case you are wondering why I have the box it's because...
The management of the bank decided to sell the property.
In preparation they reached out to my wife who explained to them the situation in the basement is in dire need assistance.
In order to sell it the bank decided that the basement needed to be emptied and everything needed to be thrown away.
My wife then called the Newton Historical Society who camber and took some things.
This is where I come in....
As the basement was been cleared out they basically looked at nothing, picked it up and threw it away into a dumpster outside. What a shame.
At the end of the day I would go up to see if there was anything that was worth saving. I went a few times and and I could see old news papers from the 1940's and so on, a lot of damp worn out bank papers, some of the rations, furniture, the list goes on an on.
Then one day my wife said the vault in the basement was next on the list to be clear out. The workers were instructed to throw everything into the into the dumpster.
This is when I found the"Steele Box". It was on it's way to the trash heap and I grabbed it, little did I know what was inside.
The box had the another box sitting on top. In it is where I eventually found the copper plate that has President George Washington's writing on it.

More on the "Steele Box"...

Interestingly enough I have done a lot of work looking into what I call the "Steele Box".
What is the "Steele Box"? I can tell you it is a box similar to a old milk box / storage container, wood handles and made of metal. It's about 18 inches front to back, 22 inches side to side and about 18 to 20 inches deep.
I named it the "Steele Box" because it is basically a time capsule for the 1880's from a Mr. Charles Steele.
Mr Charles Steel was a...
Banker
Firefighter
Railroad Engineer of some sort
Local Baseball Player
Fan of the New York City and local theatre as well
In the box there was...
Copper printing plates, one of which has the signature of George Washington on. Mt Vernon is currently researching it.The box also had CDV photo's of actresses (Lotta Crabtree) from the California Gold Rush days taken by a well know photographer from New York City named Jeremiah Gurney. He was ranked up there Matthew Brady who happened to be the person who made the cases for Jeremiah's photos early on. As you know Matthew Brady then went on to take the famous photos which he is well known for of President Abraham Lincoln.
Employee time table from the Lackawanna Railroad, Chicago and others.
Love letters.
A letter that is from a man he knew that was in Cape Horn, South Africa. From what I gather he was trying to evade being captured by the police.
Letters to bring electricity to Newton.
Papers, ledgers, and so on all tied to arranging local Baseball games in the area including New York City in such places as Coney Island.
The baseball team from Newton was made up mostly from the Newton Steamer Co. No. 1, firefighters from that time.
Broadside of the first kidnapping in the United States for ransom, Charles ("Charley") Brewster Ross.
Opera house floor plans from New York City, one of which was torn down and is now where Madison Square Garden is today.
Bill Heads and Broadsides.
Bank Checks
Bank notes that were used as currency before the Federal Reserve been into existence.
....and more. There are over 2,000 pieces of paper (Ephemera) in this box.

As you can see it's overwhelming.

I hope to get the chance to post some of what I have and I also hope to learn more about the stamps and cancels on the postal cards, envelopes and stamps. At the moment most of what was in the box is in protective sleeves and separated by category. Please know that the Steele box is actually Steele or tin. It did rust while it was in the basement so some of the items in the box are in bad shape while others are not. Last, there are letters that do not have stamps BUT all is not lost. I pulled out those stams and have kept them to the side in hopes of somehow reuniting with the envelope that they were attached to. Wish me luck. I know I am jumping into this head first.

---Mark

Welcome!

As Mr Allen put it in "Kidnapped", "Meanwhile, they take me to New Jesey, bound and gagged. My parents finally realise that I'm kidnapped. They snap into action immediately: they rent out my room. The ransom note says for my father to leave a thousand dollars in a hollow tree in New Jersey. He has no trouble raising the thousand dollars, but he gets a hernia carrying the hollow tree".

Thank you GeoffHa....

... I haven't checked any trees lately and I may just start doing that when I free up.

Oddly enough in the "Steele Box" there is a handbill. The handbill is for the very first kidnapping in the United States for ransom, $20,000 US . It was for a boy name Charley Brewster Ross". It happened just next door in Philadelphia, PA. I have to wonder what is going on around here... :)

Interesting story.

Grew up in Lake Mohawk (Sparta).

One of the better introductions. Thanks. Welcome.

There is an excellent search function here for past threads. Click the Search dialog box at the top of any page. Then use the google search (which will search this forum) and find what you need. Useful for general questions, specific questions, and everything in between.

Mark,

What an adventure you have had so far with more distance to cover on your quest. Would like to see your covers.

Collecting for the enjoyment of collecting, whatever that might be, is the name of the game. Don't hesitate to ask questions especially if you need basic information and especially more advanced sources of information for any possible topic. You should be able to find folks on this board a little further along on their collecting journey glad to share experiences. Russ

Mforder - "I think that I shall never see, A poem as lovely as a tree." Having grown up in Old Bridge, NJ, we were required to memorize that Kilmer poem.

What an adventure on many levels you have had and will continue to have sorting through these interesting materials.

I, too, look forward to seeing what you post from the steel box. How did the kidnapping story end? Was the ransom paid, the child returned? Did they ever catch the guy in South Africa? You have plenty of material to write a book, not to mention to fill the wing or at least part of one of a museum.

Good luck with all that and please share with us.

BobbyT

Hi Calstamp - I know that area very well, it's a really nice place to live and stop in for some good food and a beer as well. Love Krough's which I am sure you know of. They are also making their own beer now too, not sure if you now that.

Hi wkusau - Thank you fr the compliment, muck appreciated! I will use that search, sounds perfect. I believe I overlooked it up until I read your messages, thanks!

Hi Russ(hoosierboy) & BobbyT - I have a lot of envelopes BUT what I have to tell you is that there are only so many that have something interesting printed on them. There are a lot of personal letters in the box that may be unexciting. As for the one's that are not personal letters I plan on posting them. Some are in good shaper while others have been damaged from bing in the basement of the bank. I figured I post them anyway. One of my favorites is from a company called "The Silsby Manufacturing Co." who built steam fire engine and apparatus. They were located in Senaca Falls, NY. Unfortunately the covers are not in great shape but they are pretty neat to see. There is also a letter inside with a Lito at the top of their plant.

Unfortunately the kidnappers were never caught and little Charley was never found although his brother did make it home safely. As for the man in South Africa I don't know if he was ever found. All I can tell is that he was on the run fro some reason.

There is a lot in the box that I cannot share here because it's not Philatelic related, Broadsides, individual papers, Opera house floor plans and some history of where they were and what they are now in NYC. Railroad, Firefighting, Baseball, blotters and so on. When I post anything related to Philately then I will make sure that any accompanies papers are posted as well when necessary like the letterhead from Silsby. Oh, and by the way I did get invited by the curator of the baseball museum in Cooperstown, NY to bring up the box and on a few of the papers were in the Disney movie called Open Range starring Kevin Costner, and Robert Duvall and Annette Bening. If you ever watch the movie you will see a paint sample hanging in the doorway of the General Store and there are wanted posters in the Sherrifs office. The Coney Island broadside was even published in a book called "America the Beautiful" by Lynn Sherr who was an ABC reporter.


To all of you,

Thanks for letting me share a bit more about the "Steele Box".

---Mark