Show Your 1851-61 Era Cancellations And Postal Markings

Very nice. It looks like it was on a Wells Fargo Franked envelope.

Often when the stamp gets the Wells Fargo cancel struck on it, the cover was carried entirely privately by them, out of the mails. Not always, but often.

This one is interesting and puzzling. . .looks like Northfield M.T. which I presume is Montana Territory. That territory did not exist until 1864. It was preceded by Idaho Territory which existed from 1863. This stamp (26A) was illegal to use after 1861.

I see no Northfield M.T. in Jim Forte's post office look-up. Simpson's does not even list town postmarks for Montana nor Idaho territories. The Internet has never heard of "Northfield Montana," so I cannot place it anywhere. Does anyone have any ideas?

Hi Philazilla --

I have a few cancels from M.T. towns -- and almost all of them turned out to be Minnesota Territory.

I ran a search for "Northfield Minnesota Territory" -- and here is a cut and paste excerpt from Wikipedia:

... Northfield, Minnesota, was founded in 1855 and lies within the boundaries of the historical Minnesota Territory, which was officially organized in 1849. The territory encompassed what is now Minnesota and extended to the Missouri River, including the eastern parts of North and South Dakota...

Minnesota became a state in May 1858 -- which fits with the 26A period of usage.

I am not a postal historian -- but Minnesota Territory seems like a probable fit.

Regards // ioagoa

Thank you ioagoa - that makes sense!

Here is a fun one - Chicago Advertised cover. I looked up the shield in Leonard Piszkiewicz's Chicago Postal History Markings and Postal History book and found out that Oct 29, 1859 is the 1st day of use! That adds significant interest, and maybe value.

The stamp is a run-of-the-mill 26. The "22" is likely a control number. . .unless someone knows better.

EKU (Earliest Known Usage) of the large Boston PAID cancellation. January 16, 1852. Franked with an Experimental Orange Brown - 33L1L.

Scott 11, 70L1L, 1854 Rose Red
Earliest Known Usage of black ink Phil'a Pa. postmark, January 24, 1854. Prior to this date Philadelphia had been using blue ink.

Fritz - that's good to know.

I had actually wondered exactly when Philadelphia switched over, and I presumed it was late 1853 or early 1854.

'3 Paid' cds on Scott 26, Detroit Mich. I was spawned in Detroit about the same time this stamp was postmarked.

'3 Paid' cds on Scott 26, New Bedford, Mass.

Heres another New York 'APL' so I thought I would post it here.
I do have a question about the Winchester, CT cds and forward 5?
Would this be postage due because it's a Registered letter?

Here is a #26 strip of 3 (positions 66-68L15) -- with NY Ocean Mail cancellations -- (S&E type PM-OM 1):

ioagoa - a #26 strip of 3 can't get much better than that.

Forwarding was not free during this period, so the letter was rated 5¢ due as an unpaid letter to the next destination. The recipient left forwarding instructions at the post office. Since the new address is not noted on the letter, this was probably part of a bundle of letters that were forwarded together and the postmaster just wrote the forwarding address on the top letter of the bundle.

SPQR thank you.