El Paso, Texas, 1847. Unbound. This one-page stampless folded letter written on “Tuesday 26th” [January 1847] by Captain John T. Hughes, Company C, 1st Regiment Missouri Volunteers is a postscript to a letter he had written newspaper editor the day before while at El Paso, Texas, shortly after seizing the..... More

Philadelphia to Carlisle, Pennsylvania: 1779. Unbound. This two-page letter, datelined Philad’a 15th Feb’y 1779, was sent by Colonel Ephraim Blaine, the Commissary-General for the Middle District of the Continental Army, to Colonel John Davis, the Deputy Quartermaster General for Army’s Western District who was located at Carlisle, Pennsylvania. In..... More

San Francisco: June 12, 1861. Envelope or Cover. California politics had long been dominated by pro-slavery Democrats until the presidential campaign of 1860 when their party split into two factions, one led by Illinois Senator Stephen A. Douglas and the other by Vice-President John C. Breckinridge. This schism allowed the..... More

Fort Towson, Arkansas in the Choctaw Nation (now Oklahoma): 1838. Envelope or Cover. This four-page stampless folded letter was written and mailed on April 8, 1838, by the Commanding Officer of Fort Towson, Arkansas in the Choctaw Nation (now Oklahoma), Lieutenant Colonel Josiah H. Vose, to his sister in Boston..... More

Richmond, Virginia: 26 July 1861. Envelope or Cover. This 5.5" x 3.25" envelope has two Richmond, Virginia postal markings: a circular city postmark dated "Jul 26 1861" and a circular "Paid 10" handstamp. There is also a bold strike of an "Adams Ex. Co. * Louisville, Ky. * Jul 31..... More

Boston, Massachusetts to Coventry Connecticut: February 6, 1799. Envelope or Cover. This one-page stampless folded letter measures approximately 12” x 7.5”. It is datelined “Boston Feby March 6. 1799.” It bears a straight-line “Boston” handstamp, circled “7 / MR” Boston postmark, and a manuscript “10” rate mark. Small sealing wax..... More