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General Philatelic/Gen. Discussion : Stamps and Stories - Post a picture of a lovely stamp or cover and if you like tell a story about it

 

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smauggie
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27 Mar 2020
10:42:11pm
Who doesn't like looking at stamps and/or covers. This is meant as a fun way to pass the time and have some interesting and/or lovely stamps to look at.

I will start.

This is a first day cover for the 1935 Western Samoa pictorial stamp issue. Of particular interest is the addressee who was one of the principals of Stanley Gibbons, and the cover is addressed to their old address on 341 Strand in London.

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Inside the cover I found the following:

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smauggie
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28 Mar 2020
10:43:58am
re: Stamps and Stories - Post a picture of a lovely stamp or cover and if you like tell a story about it

This is less of a story but this is one of the few
cork cancels I have seen used to kill Panamanian stamps, and the fact that it is stylized as a palm tree tickles me pink. The cancel reminds me of the shorter-fronded palm trees found on the Atlantic coast of Panama, but I doubt the creator of this cork had that in mind.

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auldstampguy
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Tim
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28 Mar 2020
11:25:18am
re: Stamps and Stories - Post a picture of a lovely stamp or cover and if you like tell a story about it

This cover from August 29th, 1903 addressed to Mrs Eleanora E Biss of Rosemont, PA from her bankers, Bioren & Co. of Philadelphia, tells an interesting story.

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Mrs Eleanora E Bliss (nee Anderson), or “Nellie” to her family, was the wife of Tasker Howard Bliss, whom she married on May 24th 1882. The Anderson and the Bliss families first came together in 1849 when Eleanora’s father the Rev. Dr. George W Anderson became professor of Latin at the University of Lewisburg (now Bucknell) where Tasker’s father the Rev. Dr. George Ripley Bliss worked as the professor for Greek from 1849 to 1874. After a long courtship, Tasker and Eleanor were married in a ceremony that nearly didn’t happen. Eleanor was stricken with partial deafness around 1881 and tried to break off the engagement to Tasker, she didn’t want to be a hindrance to Tasker’s military career that was just starting to blossom. Tasker wouldn’t hear of it. He said that he hadn’t fallen in love with her ears and the fact that she couldn’t hear very well made no difference to him.

Tasker Howard Bliss (Dec. 31 1853 – Nov. 9 1930) was the seventh in a family of thirteen. He attended Lewisburg for one year prior to his admission to West Point from where he graduated in 1876. He was initially assigned to the artillery, but then was called back to West Point to teach French and artillery basics. The main reason for him to discontinue his education at Lewisburg and enter West Point was that of family finances. His father earned $500 per year as a Greek professor, which just didn’t go far enough with a family of 15.

After the Custer massacre, Tasker appealed to Major John Schofield for active service in the West, but Schofield made him remain until he had finished his four years tour as an instructor. Following a period of routine service after the end of his tour as an instructor at West Point, Tasker was chosen as the army officer to teach military science at the new Naval War College at Newport (1885-88), where he made so distinctive an impression that he was sent on a mission to get information about military schools in England, France and Germany. When Gen. Schofield succeeded Gen. Sheridan as commanding general of the army, he chose Tasker as his aide.

Tasker had a number of important postings overseas in Spain, Cuba and Puerto Rico, advancing in rank along the way. President William McKinley recommended that he be made a brigadier-general and the Senate confirmed the promotion without an opposing voice. In 1902, when the Cuban government took over their own administration, Tasker was brought back to Washington as an adviser in reorganizing the army under a general staff system. This is where he would have been working when the letter was send to Mrs Eleanora E Bliss at Rosemont, PA from her bankers.

Tasker went on to be appointed to the General Staff as Assistant Chief of Staff for the Army on February 13, 1915 until his promotion to Chief of Staff on September 22 1917. After retiring in November 1917, President Woodrow Wilson recalled him to duty in 1918 and sent him to Versailles, France to participate in negotiating the end of the First World War.

Eleanora’s father was also a professor at Lewisburg, but the family had more money and connections than Tasker’s. Eleanora’s mother, Maria (or Ria) was from the Hill family. Her great grandmother was Anne Marie, the daughter of Sir Harry Goring, 6th Baronet, who had quite an interesting life of travel and study throughout Europe and this unconventional approach to educating the daughters of the house was passed down through the generations. Maria had tutors to make her proficient in all branches from dancing, embroidering and music to languages and the sciences. She spoke French just as fluently as English. Eleanora’s father didn’t have enough money for tutors for her, but her mother made sure that she received the education in everything she needed except dancing, which would have been inappropriate at the time for a minister’s daughter. She was fluent in both French and German and spent considerable time living abroad.

There are a couple of interesting things about the cover addressed to Mrs Eleanora E Bliss. The first is that Bioren & Co, Bankers wrote to her directly. At that time her husband Tasker would normally have delt with all the financial matters. This could indicate one of two things. Either she still had family money in her own name or Tasker just didn’t handle those aspects of life, perhaps because of the demands of his military life. The other interesting thing is that the letter was sent to her family home in Rosemont, PA rather than the home that she and Taster had in Fort Totten, New York, so she must have spent time there while Taster was on active duty.

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ArtStamp

28 Mar 2020
12:15:42pm
re: Stamps and Stories - Post a picture of a lovely stamp or cover and if you like tell a story about it

Fascinating story. Thanks.

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smauggie
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28 Mar 2020
12:47:38pm
re: Stamps and Stories - Post a picture of a lovely stamp or cover and if you like tell a story about it

Hi Tim,

The machine cancel on your cover is an "experimental" type from the American machine cancel company. They would later switch to the more iconic flag type cancels.

Great cover and story.

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philb
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29 Mar 2020
12:02:11pm

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re: Stamps and Stories - Post a picture of a lovely stamp or cover and if you like tell a story about it

Smauggie, you sent me on quite a hunt...for now i will settle on this Shackleton cover i got from the late great cover dealer John Nunes.Image Not Found

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"And every hair is measured like every grain of sand"
smauggie
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29 Mar 2020
02:45:32pm
re: Stamps and Stories - Post a picture of a lovely stamp or cover and if you like tell a story about it

Great cover! Elephant Island looks like the head of an elephant, I had to get out the satellite view to see it for myself.

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smauggie
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29 Mar 2020
03:23:19pm
re: Stamps and Stories - Post a picture of a lovely stamp or cover and if you like tell a story about it

Here is a cover I recently cataloged for my Minnesota Postal History collection. There have been two cities in Minnesota called Northome, this one is found in Koochiching county. Koochiching is one of those Minnesota counties named for an Ojibwe word meaning "at the place of inlets".

The cancel is of particular interest because it is a type 2 Doane cancel. On the Doane Cancel Website there is no listing for a type 2 Doane cancel for Northome. I have already alerted Gary, the website owner, regarding this.

This cover also features an illicit use of a cut square for postage, which you don't see everyday.

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philb
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29 Mar 2020
05:32:23pm

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re: Stamps and Stories - Post a picture of a lovely stamp or cover and if you like tell a story about it

ah Ok Antonio, i can play..this will be my address for a few weeks !Image Not Found

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cdj1122
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Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..

29 Mar 2020
06:02:10pm
re: Stamps and Stories - Post a picture of a lovely stamp or cover and if you like tell a story about it

Fantastic story about the inner workings of the Army and the Bliss family. I wonder if Trasker Bliss is descended from Lt Colonel William Bliss for whom Fort Bliss, Texas and New Mexico is named. We also have Schofield Barracks on Oahu in Hawaii where the base PX is bigger than Pearl Harb
or, or at least it was in the '60s.

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".... You may think you understood what you thought I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you think you heard is not what I thought I meant. .... "
smauggie
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29 Mar 2020
09:42:21pm
re: Stamps and Stories - Post a picture of a lovely stamp or cover and if you like tell a story about it

This 1907 Unitrade OX3 from Canada is just for show. Yes, this is a big seal, and yes I kind of maxed out on the image size possible to upload. Even at reduced quality in a jpeg it is quite striking.

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philb
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29 Mar 2020
10:24:04pm

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re: Stamps and Stories - Post a picture of a lovely stamp or cover and if you like tell a story about it

Nice !

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smauggie
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30 Mar 2020
01:24:21pm
re: Stamps and Stories - Post a picture of a lovely stamp or cover and if you like tell a story about it

Another looker.
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smauggie
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31 Mar 2020
11:57:20am
re: Stamps and Stories - Post a picture of a lovely stamp or cover and if you like tell a story about it

This is one of those few stamps that show someplace I have been. This is the remaining cathedral tower from the original city of Panama founded in 1519. While it is now the capital city of Panama it is not the first city founded in Panama, or, for a long time, the largest city.

The old Panama city was abandoned in the mid 16th century due to continuous pirate attacks. Many of the old structures were reduced to ruins because the stones they were built from were taken to help build a new city center in the shadow of a giant shield of a hill called Ancon Hill.

The hill provided a great lookout place to see incoming ships and provided greater shelter.

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Here is a picture of the area of today's Panama City under the watchful gaze of Ancon Hill. Thankfully pirate attacks are no longer a danger.

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More recently, archeological studies were conducted right next to the cathedral tower, and a prehistoric burial ground was discovered, so it could be that the area had been inhabited prior to European discovery of the "new world".

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smauggie
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05 Apr 2020
09:17:02am
re: Stamps and Stories - Post a picture of a lovely stamp or cover and if you like tell a story about it

Industrial Exposition of Madrid
Cinderellas

These stamps, with their double values almost look like semipostal stamps to raise money for the exposition. In fact they are cinderellas and not valid for postage, despite being sold as such by some sellers I see.

I liked the design so much, I got the complete set.

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FrequentFlyer
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05 Apr 2020
12:24:45pm
re: Stamps and Stories - Post a picture of a lovely stamp or cover and if you like tell a story about it

This cover and insert couldn't be categorized as "lovely," but there is a story that goes with it. Back in the 1950s, my early teenage years before I got a drivers license, I built model airplanes and was an avid reader of Model Airplane News. Every summer the Academy of Model Aeronautics sponsored a national competition for flying models, usually held on a Naval Air Station. This diminutive cover and its insert were products of the 1949 meet held at the Olathe, Kansas, Naval Air Station. The cachet shows a participant releasing a "rise-off-the-ground free-flight" model. As the insert explains, a packet of covers like this one was carried by such a model airplane. My model-building friends and I always fantasized about someday attending the "Nationals" with our models. None of us every made it to the event, but I did visit the former Olathe Naval Air Station about ten years ago for an air show held there. This airport is still active, but no longer as a Naval Air Station. It is now the New Century Air Center. I count this cover as an interesting and nostalgic addition to my cover collection.

FF

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Opa
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06 Apr 2020
03:35:52pm
re: Stamps and Stories - Post a picture of a lovely stamp or cover and if you like tell a story about it


A stamp from my bird collection. France, 1947. A herrings gull flying over "Île de la Cité" in Paris, the oldest part of Paris. I recieved this stamp from a friend at work.
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philb
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07 Apr 2020
01:07:45pm

Auctions
re: Stamps and Stories - Post a picture of a lovely stamp or cover and if you like tell a story about it

Yes that is some artwork ! My Scott international album does not have a space for it,i suppose they thought it might be out of reach of the average collector.

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BenFranklin1902
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Tom in Exton, PA

08 Apr 2020
11:11:47am
re: Stamps and Stories - Post a picture of a lovely stamp or cover and if you like tell a story about it

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Here's a couple of my interesting covers... what happens eventually when you have sorted through thousands of cards of one stamp!

Card One- New Years 1907 cover. Mailed on December 31, 1906 and received on January 1, 1907. I'm looking for these from other years.

Card Two- Leap Year 1908 - The only Leap Year of the era I collect! I have shown this one here before, probably last on Leap Year day this year.

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John Macco
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Astrophilatelist- Space Cover Collector

09 Apr 2020
07:54:44am
re: Stamps and Stories - Post a picture of a lovely stamp or cover and if you like tell a story about it

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AS many of you know, I am a collector of space covers and space related autographs. I also exhibit a collection that pertains to the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. When I received the first day cover shown above, I started to send it to the crewmembers for their autographs. Russia has no prohibition to showing living people on its stamps. Back in the 1980's, the astronauts and cosmonauts were very receptive to autograph requests. The only prohibition the cosmonauts had was they could not sign autographs until they flew their first flight.

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musicman
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APS #213005

09 Apr 2020
06:15:54pm
re: Stamps and Stories - Post a picture of a lovely stamp or cover and if you like tell a story about it

Most excellent cover and story, John!

Thanks for the post.


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smauggie
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10 Apr 2020
12:52:25am
re: Stamps and Stories - Post a picture of a lovely stamp or cover and if you like tell a story about it

When this came up for auction I had a contender, but he kindly let me take it.

Fancy cork cancels from Minnesota are quite scarce, and this is the only one in my collection.

Hastings, Minnesota - November 30, 1899 - Fancy "H" cancel

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smauggie
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11 Apr 2020
09:43:33pm
re: Stamps and Stories - Post a picture of a lovely stamp or cover and if you like tell a story about it

This Minnesota post office Aldal, in Polk County was active from 1881 to 1887. Here is a brief excerpt regarding the founding of the post office.

"In 1880, Mr. E.H. Cornelius, who had built a small store at Edna, sought to establish a trade center for the Norwegians who had settled near the Sandhill River. He chose to purchase the large house that had been built by Jacob Aldal on his homestead to become what would be called the Aldal store. This site was chosen because it seemed to be about the center of much of the pioneer settlements.

Aldal was located about one mile east of the junction of Highway #1 and Highway #32. He then sought Knute Nelson to be proprietor of the store, and in the winter of 1881, Cornelius had Nelson circulate a petition to get support for a post office in Aldal. On his return with the signed petition, Nelson had secured 120 signatures. On April 1, 1881 Aldal now officially had a post office and general store with Knute Nelson postmaster and general manager of the store.
"


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In 1887 a railroad was built through the area, though it ended up bypassing Aldal and another local town now referred to as "Old Fertile". A new plat was drawn up for the town of Fertile arranged around the closest railway station. That year the Aldal post office was closed down, and mail was then directed to the new town of Fertile, Minnesota
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TribalErnie

13 Apr 2020
02:50:10pm
re: Stamps and Stories - Post a picture of a lovely stamp or cover and if you like tell a story about it

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This is the last letter my Dad wrote to me. I lost him less than 6 months later. This is priceless to me. He was hilarious.

"Hey, Dad... Why'd ya put two stamps on this?" Rolling On The Floor Laughing



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musicman
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APS #213005

13 Apr 2020
09:04:40pm
re: Stamps and Stories - Post a picture of a lovely stamp or cover and if you like tell a story about it

The more fireworks, the better!!!

Big Grin

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mbo1142
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I thought I was wrong once, but I was mistaken.

15 Apr 2020
07:09:35pm
re: Stamps and Stories - Post a picture of a lovely stamp or cover and if you like tell a story about it

Found this while cleaning out boxes.

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Long story short. In 1976 Colorado tried to persuade the Postal Service to issue a commemorative postage stamp for Colorado's 100th birthday celebration. They tried every way they could think of to convince the Postal Service to issue such stamp. Despite all the effort the Citizens Stamp Advisory Panel tabled the discussion of a Colorado centennial stamp until its November meeting, and thereby in essence killing any possibility of a stamp for Colorado during its centennial year. I quote the final words from the pamphlet, "And so, Colorado is left out in the cold. 200 years ago the United States was born because of shoddy treatment by an insensitive, aloof and distant government. The behavior of the Postal Service with respect to Colorado is reminiscent of King George's treatment of the original thirteen colonies."



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Charlie2009
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17 May 2020
08:18:27am
re: Stamps and Stories - Post a picture of a lovely stamp or cover and if you like tell a story about it

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Looking at this card you might easily assume that the sender lives indeed in Munich, Hauptstadt der Bewegung!. However, at about that time he lives in a place about 40 miles away, here:

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You must admit it's the typical Postcard image of an idyllic little german town.

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Not so idyllic if you lived a couple of miles away in THAT place with the same name. These cards were written by him to his mother in Switzerland. She was a Consul there. I can't seem to find out anything about her.Any help would be appreciated.
Dachau was fully active at that time and I find it hard to believe that people who lived a couple of miles away didn't know what was going on there! It seems strange to me that people can talk about ordinary daily life as if nothing was going on just down the road from where one lives.

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nigelc
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17 May 2020
09:51:00am
re: Stamps and Stories - Post a picture of a lovely stamp or cover and if you like tell a story about it

Interesting story Charlie!

It raises a lot of questions and I don't have any answers.

I guess the lady could have been a consul or the wife or widow of a consul?

In either case I wonder whose consul? Probably a German one given the connection you have here.

I think the address is Waldfriede near Willisau.

This is a rural location but I guess it could have been a useful for providing consular services in Luzern canton, and across Canton Bern and other cantons.

I see that Germany currently has four honorary consuls in Switzerland: in Basel, Geneva, Lugano and Zurich.

I certainly wouldn't expect to read anything about the concentration camp here on this card.

The main camp had been open for about eight years by the time of these cards.

I wonder if the son was employed at the camp or was perhaps a doctor in the town?

Of course, he could have been one of many kinds of academic/non-medical doctors.

I couldn't make out any of the message so I may have missed something obvious.

I've been learning German over the last few years and I remember being shocked when I realised that "beech forest" translates in German to "Buchenwald", the name of another notorious concentration camp.Sad

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keesindy
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17 May 2020
02:27:14pm
re: Stamps and Stories - Post a picture of a lovely stamp or cover and if you like tell a story about it

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Set of 15 commemorative Treaty of Greene Ville Sesquicentennial (1795-1945) covers

I grew up in Randolph County, Indiana, across the state line from Greenville (Darke County), Ohio. Every time we made the three-mile trip to my grandparents’ home near the Ohio state line, we crossed the Boundary Road. That rural road followed the U. S. territorial boundary established by the Treaty of Greene Ville in 1795. The treaty was the result of a military campaign in what is now northwestern Ohio. It was “A treaty of peace between the United States of America, and the tribes of Indians called the Wyandots, Delawares, Shawanees, Ottawas, Chippewas, Pattawatimas, Miamis, Eel Rivers, Weas, Kickapoos, Piankeshaws, and Kaskaskias.”

Each commemorative cover included an insert explaining the history that led to the signing of the treaty. Earlier efforts to end the conflict along the western frontier had failed. In 1792, Congress approved a new army and the appointment by President Washington of General Anthony Wayne to lead that army. The purpose was to end the ongoing conflict. General Wayne created his force in Pennsylvania and then moved in 1793 to what is now Cincinnati, Ohio. He moved northward the following year, building forts to establish the army’s presence. The first fort was established at present day Greenville, Ohio.

The Battle of Fallen Timbers took place southwest of Lake Erie on August 20, 1794. The Treaty of Green Ville was signed August 3, 1795, at Fort Greene Ville. The tribes ceded control of about 75 percent of what is now Ohio and a small sliver of what is now southeast Indiana. Ohio statehood occurred in 1803 and Indiana statehood in 1806.

This set of covers was issued by the Darke County Stamp Club in Greenville, Ohio. Each cover commemorates an event, beginning with the army’s July 28, 1794, northward move from Fort Greene Ville to ratification of the treaty by Congress on December 22, 1795. Several covers were postmarked in Greenville; others were postmarked at other key communities in Ohio. Individual covers were also postmarked at Detroit, Michigan, and at Paoli and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

According to the club’s insert, they produced 300 sets of the covers. The cost for the set (including postage) was $3.00. If the buyer provided postage, the cost was $2.60.

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"I no longer collect, but will never abandon the hobby"
        

 

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smauggie

27 Mar 2020
10:42:11pm

Who doesn't like looking at stamps and/or covers. This is meant as a fun way to pass the time and have some interesting and/or lovely stamps to look at.

I will start.

This is a first day cover for the 1935 Western Samoa pictorial stamp issue. Of particular interest is the addressee who was one of the principals of Stanley Gibbons, and the cover is addressed to their old address on 341 Strand in London.

Image Not Found

Inside the cover I found the following:

Image Not Found
Image Not Found

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smauggie

28 Mar 2020
10:43:58am

re: Stamps and Stories - Post a picture of a lovely stamp or cover and if you like tell a story about it

This is less of a story but this is one of the few
cork cancels I have seen used to kill Panamanian stamps, and the fact that it is stylized as a palm tree tickles me pink. The cancel reminds me of the shorter-fronded palm trees found on the Atlantic coast of Panama, but I doubt the creator of this cork had that in mind.

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Tim
Collector, Webmaster
28 Mar 2020
11:25:18am

re: Stamps and Stories - Post a picture of a lovely stamp or cover and if you like tell a story about it

This cover from August 29th, 1903 addressed to Mrs Eleanora E Biss of Rosemont, PA from her bankers, Bioren & Co. of Philadelphia, tells an interesting story.

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Mrs Eleanora E Bliss (nee Anderson), or “Nellie” to her family, was the wife of Tasker Howard Bliss, whom she married on May 24th 1882. The Anderson and the Bliss families first came together in 1849 when Eleanora’s father the Rev. Dr. George W Anderson became professor of Latin at the University of Lewisburg (now Bucknell) where Tasker’s father the Rev. Dr. George Ripley Bliss worked as the professor for Greek from 1849 to 1874. After a long courtship, Tasker and Eleanor were married in a ceremony that nearly didn’t happen. Eleanor was stricken with partial deafness around 1881 and tried to break off the engagement to Tasker, she didn’t want to be a hindrance to Tasker’s military career that was just starting to blossom. Tasker wouldn’t hear of it. He said that he hadn’t fallen in love with her ears and the fact that she couldn’t hear very well made no difference to him.

Tasker Howard Bliss (Dec. 31 1853 – Nov. 9 1930) was the seventh in a family of thirteen. He attended Lewisburg for one year prior to his admission to West Point from where he graduated in 1876. He was initially assigned to the artillery, but then was called back to West Point to teach French and artillery basics. The main reason for him to discontinue his education at Lewisburg and enter West Point was that of family finances. His father earned $500 per year as a Greek professor, which just didn’t go far enough with a family of 15.

After the Custer massacre, Tasker appealed to Major John Schofield for active service in the West, but Schofield made him remain until he had finished his four years tour as an instructor. Following a period of routine service after the end of his tour as an instructor at West Point, Tasker was chosen as the army officer to teach military science at the new Naval War College at Newport (1885-88), where he made so distinctive an impression that he was sent on a mission to get information about military schools in England, France and Germany. When Gen. Schofield succeeded Gen. Sheridan as commanding general of the army, he chose Tasker as his aide.

Tasker had a number of important postings overseas in Spain, Cuba and Puerto Rico, advancing in rank along the way. President William McKinley recommended that he be made a brigadier-general and the Senate confirmed the promotion without an opposing voice. In 1902, when the Cuban government took over their own administration, Tasker was brought back to Washington as an adviser in reorganizing the army under a general staff system. This is where he would have been working when the letter was send to Mrs Eleanora E Bliss at Rosemont, PA from her bankers.

Tasker went on to be appointed to the General Staff as Assistant Chief of Staff for the Army on February 13, 1915 until his promotion to Chief of Staff on September 22 1917. After retiring in November 1917, President Woodrow Wilson recalled him to duty in 1918 and sent him to Versailles, France to participate in negotiating the end of the First World War.

Eleanora’s father was also a professor at Lewisburg, but the family had more money and connections than Tasker’s. Eleanora’s mother, Maria (or Ria) was from the Hill family. Her great grandmother was Anne Marie, the daughter of Sir Harry Goring, 6th Baronet, who had quite an interesting life of travel and study throughout Europe and this unconventional approach to educating the daughters of the house was passed down through the generations. Maria had tutors to make her proficient in all branches from dancing, embroidering and music to languages and the sciences. She spoke French just as fluently as English. Eleanora’s father didn’t have enough money for tutors for her, but her mother made sure that she received the education in everything she needed except dancing, which would have been inappropriate at the time for a minister’s daughter. She was fluent in both French and German and spent considerable time living abroad.

There are a couple of interesting things about the cover addressed to Mrs Eleanora E Bliss. The first is that Bioren & Co, Bankers wrote to her directly. At that time her husband Tasker would normally have delt with all the financial matters. This could indicate one of two things. Either she still had family money in her own name or Tasker just didn’t handle those aspects of life, perhaps because of the demands of his military life. The other interesting thing is that the letter was sent to her family home in Rosemont, PA rather than the home that she and Taster had in Fort Totten, New York, so she must have spent time there while Taster was on active duty.

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"Isaac Asimov once said if his doctor told him he was dying, he wouldn’t lament, he would just type a little faster. "

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ArtStamp

28 Mar 2020
12:15:42pm

re: Stamps and Stories - Post a picture of a lovely stamp or cover and if you like tell a story about it

Fascinating story. Thanks.

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smauggie

28 Mar 2020
12:47:38pm

re: Stamps and Stories - Post a picture of a lovely stamp or cover and if you like tell a story about it

Hi Tim,

The machine cancel on your cover is an "experimental" type from the American machine cancel company. They would later switch to the more iconic flag type cancels.

Great cover and story.

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philb

29 Mar 2020
12:02:11pm

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re: Stamps and Stories - Post a picture of a lovely stamp or cover and if you like tell a story about it

Smauggie, you sent me on quite a hunt...for now i will settle on this Shackleton cover i got from the late great cover dealer John Nunes.Image Not Found

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smauggie

29 Mar 2020
02:45:32pm

re: Stamps and Stories - Post a picture of a lovely stamp or cover and if you like tell a story about it

Great cover! Elephant Island looks like the head of an elephant, I had to get out the satellite view to see it for myself.

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smauggie

29 Mar 2020
03:23:19pm

re: Stamps and Stories - Post a picture of a lovely stamp or cover and if you like tell a story about it

Here is a cover I recently cataloged for my Minnesota Postal History collection. There have been two cities in Minnesota called Northome, this one is found in Koochiching county. Koochiching is one of those Minnesota counties named for an Ojibwe word meaning "at the place of inlets".

The cancel is of particular interest because it is a type 2 Doane cancel. On the Doane Cancel Website there is no listing for a type 2 Doane cancel for Northome. I have already alerted Gary, the website owner, regarding this.

This cover also features an illicit use of a cut square for postage, which you don't see everyday.

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philb

29 Mar 2020
05:32:23pm

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re: Stamps and Stories - Post a picture of a lovely stamp or cover and if you like tell a story about it

ah Ok Antonio, i can play..this will be my address for a few weeks !Image Not Found

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Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..
29 Mar 2020
06:02:10pm

re: Stamps and Stories - Post a picture of a lovely stamp or cover and if you like tell a story about it

Fantastic story about the inner workings of the Army and the Bliss family. I wonder if Trasker Bliss is descended from Lt Colonel William Bliss for whom Fort Bliss, Texas and New Mexico is named. We also have Schofield Barracks on Oahu in Hawaii where the base PX is bigger than Pearl Harb
or, or at least it was in the '60s.

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smauggie

29 Mar 2020
09:42:21pm

re: Stamps and Stories - Post a picture of a lovely stamp or cover and if you like tell a story about it

This 1907 Unitrade OX3 from Canada is just for show. Yes, this is a big seal, and yes I kind of maxed out on the image size possible to upload. Even at reduced quality in a jpeg it is quite striking.

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philb

29 Mar 2020
10:24:04pm

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re: Stamps and Stories - Post a picture of a lovely stamp or cover and if you like tell a story about it

Nice !

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smauggie

30 Mar 2020
01:24:21pm

re: Stamps and Stories - Post a picture of a lovely stamp or cover and if you like tell a story about it

Another looker.
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smauggie

31 Mar 2020
11:57:20am

re: Stamps and Stories - Post a picture of a lovely stamp or cover and if you like tell a story about it

This is one of those few stamps that show someplace I have been. This is the remaining cathedral tower from the original city of Panama founded in 1519. While it is now the capital city of Panama it is not the first city founded in Panama, or, for a long time, the largest city.

The old Panama city was abandoned in the mid 16th century due to continuous pirate attacks. Many of the old structures were reduced to ruins because the stones they were built from were taken to help build a new city center in the shadow of a giant shield of a hill called Ancon Hill.

The hill provided a great lookout place to see incoming ships and provided greater shelter.

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Here is a picture of the area of today's Panama City under the watchful gaze of Ancon Hill. Thankfully pirate attacks are no longer a danger.

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More recently, archeological studies were conducted right next to the cathedral tower, and a prehistoric burial ground was discovered, so it could be that the area had been inhabited prior to European discovery of the "new world".

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smauggie

05 Apr 2020
09:17:02am

re: Stamps and Stories - Post a picture of a lovely stamp or cover and if you like tell a story about it

Industrial Exposition of Madrid
Cinderellas

These stamps, with their double values almost look like semipostal stamps to raise money for the exposition. In fact they are cinderellas and not valid for postage, despite being sold as such by some sellers I see.

I liked the design so much, I got the complete set.

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FrequentFlyer

05 Apr 2020
12:24:45pm

re: Stamps and Stories - Post a picture of a lovely stamp or cover and if you like tell a story about it

This cover and insert couldn't be categorized as "lovely," but there is a story that goes with it. Back in the 1950s, my early teenage years before I got a drivers license, I built model airplanes and was an avid reader of Model Airplane News. Every summer the Academy of Model Aeronautics sponsored a national competition for flying models, usually held on a Naval Air Station. This diminutive cover and its insert were products of the 1949 meet held at the Olathe, Kansas, Naval Air Station. The cachet shows a participant releasing a "rise-off-the-ground free-flight" model. As the insert explains, a packet of covers like this one was carried by such a model airplane. My model-building friends and I always fantasized about someday attending the "Nationals" with our models. None of us every made it to the event, but I did visit the former Olathe Naval Air Station about ten years ago for an air show held there. This airport is still active, but no longer as a Naval Air Station. It is now the New Century Air Center. I count this cover as an interesting and nostalgic addition to my cover collection.

FF

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Opa

06 Apr 2020
03:35:52pm

re: Stamps and Stories - Post a picture of a lovely stamp or cover and if you like tell a story about it


A stamp from my bird collection. France, 1947. A herrings gull flying over "Île de la Cité" in Paris, the oldest part of Paris. I recieved this stamp from a friend at work.
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philb

07 Apr 2020
01:07:45pm

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re: Stamps and Stories - Post a picture of a lovely stamp or cover and if you like tell a story about it

Yes that is some artwork ! My Scott international album does not have a space for it,i suppose they thought it might be out of reach of the average collector.

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BenFranklin1902

Tom in Exton, PA
08 Apr 2020
11:11:47am

re: Stamps and Stories - Post a picture of a lovely stamp or cover and if you like tell a story about it

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Here's a couple of my interesting covers... what happens eventually when you have sorted through thousands of cards of one stamp!

Card One- New Years 1907 cover. Mailed on December 31, 1906 and received on January 1, 1907. I'm looking for these from other years.

Card Two- Leap Year 1908 - The only Leap Year of the era I collect! I have shown this one here before, probably last on Leap Year day this year.

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John Macco

Astrophilatelist- Space Cover Collector
09 Apr 2020
07:54:44am

re: Stamps and Stories - Post a picture of a lovely stamp or cover and if you like tell a story about it

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AS many of you know, I am a collector of space covers and space related autographs. I also exhibit a collection that pertains to the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. When I received the first day cover shown above, I started to send it to the crewmembers for their autographs. Russia has no prohibition to showing living people on its stamps. Back in the 1980's, the astronauts and cosmonauts were very receptive to autograph requests. The only prohibition the cosmonauts had was they could not sign autographs until they flew their first flight.

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musicman

APS #213005
09 Apr 2020
06:15:54pm

re: Stamps and Stories - Post a picture of a lovely stamp or cover and if you like tell a story about it

Most excellent cover and story, John!

Thanks for the post.


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smauggie

10 Apr 2020
12:52:25am

re: Stamps and Stories - Post a picture of a lovely stamp or cover and if you like tell a story about it

When this came up for auction I had a contender, but he kindly let me take it.

Fancy cork cancels from Minnesota are quite scarce, and this is the only one in my collection.

Hastings, Minnesota - November 30, 1899 - Fancy "H" cancel

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smauggie

11 Apr 2020
09:43:33pm

re: Stamps and Stories - Post a picture of a lovely stamp or cover and if you like tell a story about it

This Minnesota post office Aldal, in Polk County was active from 1881 to 1887. Here is a brief excerpt regarding the founding of the post office.

"In 1880, Mr. E.H. Cornelius, who had built a small store at Edna, sought to establish a trade center for the Norwegians who had settled near the Sandhill River. He chose to purchase the large house that had been built by Jacob Aldal on his homestead to become what would be called the Aldal store. This site was chosen because it seemed to be about the center of much of the pioneer settlements.

Aldal was located about one mile east of the junction of Highway #1 and Highway #32. He then sought Knute Nelson to be proprietor of the store, and in the winter of 1881, Cornelius had Nelson circulate a petition to get support for a post office in Aldal. On his return with the signed petition, Nelson had secured 120 signatures. On April 1, 1881 Aldal now officially had a post office and general store with Knute Nelson postmaster and general manager of the store.
"


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In 1887 a railroad was built through the area, though it ended up bypassing Aldal and another local town now referred to as "Old Fertile". A new plat was drawn up for the town of Fertile arranged around the closest railway station. That year the Aldal post office was closed down, and mail was then directed to the new town of Fertile, Minnesota
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TribalErnie

13 Apr 2020
02:50:10pm

re: Stamps and Stories - Post a picture of a lovely stamp or cover and if you like tell a story about it

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This is the last letter my Dad wrote to me. I lost him less than 6 months later. This is priceless to me. He was hilarious.

"Hey, Dad... Why'd ya put two stamps on this?" Rolling On The Floor Laughing



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musicman

APS #213005
13 Apr 2020
09:04:40pm

re: Stamps and Stories - Post a picture of a lovely stamp or cover and if you like tell a story about it

The more fireworks, the better!!!

Big Grin

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mbo1142

I thought I was wrong once, but I was mistaken.
15 Apr 2020
07:09:35pm

re: Stamps and Stories - Post a picture of a lovely stamp or cover and if you like tell a story about it

Found this while cleaning out boxes.

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Long story short. In 1976 Colorado tried to persuade the Postal Service to issue a commemorative postage stamp for Colorado's 100th birthday celebration. They tried every way they could think of to convince the Postal Service to issue such stamp. Despite all the effort the Citizens Stamp Advisory Panel tabled the discussion of a Colorado centennial stamp until its November meeting, and thereby in essence killing any possibility of a stamp for Colorado during its centennial year. I quote the final words from the pamphlet, "And so, Colorado is left out in the cold. 200 years ago the United States was born because of shoddy treatment by an insensitive, aloof and distant government. The behavior of the Postal Service with respect to Colorado is reminiscent of King George's treatment of the original thirteen colonies."



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Charlie2009

17 May 2020
08:18:27am

re: Stamps and Stories - Post a picture of a lovely stamp or cover and if you like tell a story about it

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Looking at this card you might easily assume that the sender lives indeed in Munich, Hauptstadt der Bewegung!. However, at about that time he lives in a place about 40 miles away, here:

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You must admit it's the typical Postcard image of an idyllic little german town.

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Not so idyllic if you lived a couple of miles away in THAT place with the same name. These cards were written by him to his mother in Switzerland. She was a Consul there. I can't seem to find out anything about her.Any help would be appreciated.
Dachau was fully active at that time and I find it hard to believe that people who lived a couple of miles away didn't know what was going on there! It seems strange to me that people can talk about ordinary daily life as if nothing was going on just down the road from where one lives.

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nigelc

17 May 2020
09:51:00am

re: Stamps and Stories - Post a picture of a lovely stamp or cover and if you like tell a story about it

Interesting story Charlie!

It raises a lot of questions and I don't have any answers.

I guess the lady could have been a consul or the wife or widow of a consul?

In either case I wonder whose consul? Probably a German one given the connection you have here.

I think the address is Waldfriede near Willisau.

This is a rural location but I guess it could have been a useful for providing consular services in Luzern canton, and across Canton Bern and other cantons.

I see that Germany currently has four honorary consuls in Switzerland: in Basel, Geneva, Lugano and Zurich.

I certainly wouldn't expect to read anything about the concentration camp here on this card.

The main camp had been open for about eight years by the time of these cards.

I wonder if the son was employed at the camp or was perhaps a doctor in the town?

Of course, he could have been one of many kinds of academic/non-medical doctors.

I couldn't make out any of the message so I may have missed something obvious.

I've been learning German over the last few years and I remember being shocked when I realised that "beech forest" translates in German to "Buchenwald", the name of another notorious concentration camp.Sad

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keesindy

17 May 2020
02:27:14pm

re: Stamps and Stories - Post a picture of a lovely stamp or cover and if you like tell a story about it

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Set of 15 commemorative Treaty of Greene Ville Sesquicentennial (1795-1945) covers

I grew up in Randolph County, Indiana, across the state line from Greenville (Darke County), Ohio. Every time we made the three-mile trip to my grandparents’ home near the Ohio state line, we crossed the Boundary Road. That rural road followed the U. S. territorial boundary established by the Treaty of Greene Ville in 1795. The treaty was the result of a military campaign in what is now northwestern Ohio. It was “A treaty of peace between the United States of America, and the tribes of Indians called the Wyandots, Delawares, Shawanees, Ottawas, Chippewas, Pattawatimas, Miamis, Eel Rivers, Weas, Kickapoos, Piankeshaws, and Kaskaskias.”

Each commemorative cover included an insert explaining the history that led to the signing of the treaty. Earlier efforts to end the conflict along the western frontier had failed. In 1792, Congress approved a new army and the appointment by President Washington of General Anthony Wayne to lead that army. The purpose was to end the ongoing conflict. General Wayne created his force in Pennsylvania and then moved in 1793 to what is now Cincinnati, Ohio. He moved northward the following year, building forts to establish the army’s presence. The first fort was established at present day Greenville, Ohio.

The Battle of Fallen Timbers took place southwest of Lake Erie on August 20, 1794. The Treaty of Green Ville was signed August 3, 1795, at Fort Greene Ville. The tribes ceded control of about 75 percent of what is now Ohio and a small sliver of what is now southeast Indiana. Ohio statehood occurred in 1803 and Indiana statehood in 1806.

This set of covers was issued by the Darke County Stamp Club in Greenville, Ohio. Each cover commemorates an event, beginning with the army’s July 28, 1794, northward move from Fort Greene Ville to ratification of the treaty by Congress on December 22, 1795. Several covers were postmarked in Greenville; others were postmarked at other key communities in Ohio. Individual covers were also postmarked at Detroit, Michigan, and at Paoli and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

According to the club’s insert, they produced 300 sets of the covers. The cost for the set (including postage) was $3.00. If the buyer provided postage, the cost was $2.60.

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