An 1851 Stampless Folded Letter Cover Whose Signature Tells A Fascinating Story About The Man, His Fame, Family, And Historic Atlantic Canada.
HOW I STUMBLED AND FUMBLED ON THIS ONE.
About 5 years ago I purchased a collection of postcards, covers and a few stamps.
Some very early stuff, and a couple of stampless covers which I knew nothing about. So I shelved everything and over time it was buried somewhere.
Have you ever had that helpless “somewhere” feeling? You put it somewhere, but where?
After three or four hours of searching everywhere, sometimes looking in the same place twice or even three times.........
Now, when your frustration at its peak you say “enough is enough”, and you and the dog take a long, long walk.
Well, that happens to me all the time, but after 5 years of off and on looking you would think that maybe it's time to form a “search party”. So we did, and I came up with this 1851 Stampless folded letter.
I was able to read the ink penned signature, and thought, I’m going to check out both this guy and the cover.
The Stampless cover was paid “6”, and was sent cross border to New York. The letter itself was a page and a half, and the overall cover was very clean for being 170 years old.
This guy, let’s say his name is George for now, was born in Canada just after the 1800’s and from a very young age had a keen interest in business.
So, what did he do?
Risky business was it?
Well, George liked ships. Schooners let’s say. Not just because they were ships, but because they could transport items right across the Atlantic Ocean, from England to Colony/Canada.
So, George had a ship or two built, or maybe more, who knows. Now, wages at that time were 10 cents to 15 cents per hour maybe?. I’m just not sure, but $3.00 was a lot of money.
So, the merchant ships were on the go across the Atlantic, and George profited handsomely. But it was a ruthless business as cargo went missing, more times than not.
How do you catch these thieves, it was after all the 1850’s, just as the Stampless Cover revealed. Well, George was a pretty smart guy, which resulted in one law suit after another law suit, and they continued.
So what else was George up to?
Well, the business man and a few of his investors decided, “This town needs a bank”.
So, they financed and founded the first ever bank, in a hustle and bustle town in a Province within the British Colony.
Do you see where this is headed?
Ship building, a barge, merchant ships transporting goods (flour, tea, tobacco, industrial stuff), across the Atlantic.
George’s business was right on the water front, so why not?
And let’s not forget, as one of the original founders of the Bank of ...........
So what else? Well, let’s try Justice of the Peace. Yes, it’s true a Canadian kid doing pretty good.
Did George ever marry?
Why did he then go to California?
Who did he address that Stampless cover to, in New York?
And......How did George meet his death at such an early age?
The exciting conclusion to the story, which all started by just looking at a Stampless cover, 1851.
Thank You,John Bucci
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