1823 – Letter from a young man who had traveled from Portsmouth, New Hampshire westward to St. Louis in search of potential business opportunities
Portsmouth, New Hampshire: 18/23. Envelope or Cover. This stampless three-page letter was sent by Benjamin Orne in Nashville, Tennessee, to his brother, James, in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. It is datelined Nashville 6 July 1823. The front panel bears a manuscript “18½” rate mark and a circular Philadelphia post mark in red dated 31 July, indicating that it would have been favor-carried and, there, place in the U. S. postal system for delivery to Portsmouth. In nice shape, with some beginning splits along the mailing folds, one of which has been mended by tissue or archival tape.
In the letter, Benjamin relates his travels to and observations about the young cities that were taking root along the rivers through what is now the Midwest. It reads in part:
“I arrived here five days since from St. Louis by horse, a mode of travelling that I was but little accustomed to but find that habit makes it familiar. I have rode 200 miles & find it agrees with me as my health continues good. I suffered no inconvenience from it except the warm weather which now is oppressive. . .. I shall not be able to make such rapid progress as when travelling by steam boat shall leave here in a few days for Louisville 200 miles from here & shall probably be able there to determine what time I shall be in Penna [although] it is quite uncertain how long I shall be detained in Kenty & Ohio. . .. I feel very anxious [to know] you are well. I fear you will be visited by again as the season is now approaching with the Fever. . .. I am please with St. Louis & consider it a place of rising importance in the trad of Missouri. This is a pleasant town & of considerable trade. . .. It is situated on the Cumberland River 150 miles from the mouth which empties into the Ohio & exports a large part of the products of Tennessee. . ..”
. Very good. Item #010808Orne’s desire to tap in to the possibility of marketing goods from the westernmost edge of the country in the Eastern Seaboard is almost palpable. However, although about 3,000 family-made one-time-use flatboats carried goods down the Ohio River each year, and steamboat travel was beginning to blossom by 1823, Orne was ahead of his time. It would take another 20 years before western canal systems would allow for the regular east-west movement of goods in the north and 30 years before fledgling railroads did the same in what today are the I-70 and I-64 corridors.
1820s travel between the East and Missouri and Tennessee and their surrounding states was uncommon, and mail from those travelers is quite scarce. Although, St. Louis was a fast-growing frontier gateway and a major fur-trading and river hub, the total volume of mail was very low compared to eastern cities. Also, Nashville was still a small frontier settlement rather than a bustling city. Its total population was only around 3,500 people, and the amount of mail they generated was correspondingly small.
At the time of listing, there are no similar travel letters for sale in the trade. Only a few letters from the region of any kind (and they are almost entirely military) have appeared at auction per the Rare Book Hub and ASBA. OCLC identifies no more than about 150 letters from 1820s river cities like St. Louis, Louisville, Nashville, and Cincinnati that are held by institutions.
.Price: $350.00