Name/Title
Before postage stampsEntry/Object ID
ARC150 ve2Scope and Content
The Post Office Department issued its first postage stamps on July 1, 1847. Previously, letters were taken to a post office, where the postmaster, clerk, or assistant would note the postage in the upper right corner. Postage could be paid in advance by the mailer, collected from the recipient on delivery, or paid partially in advance and partially on delivery.
Upper: An 1839 Letter mailed to Mr. Luckett in Leesburg, Virginia, from Snickers Ferry, Virginia. The six-cent postage is handwritten in the upper right hand corner. (ARC150-CHL-C1 014)
MIddle left: An 1847 letter written to Joseph E. N. Lewis in James City, Virginia, from his mother, Mary Muse Lewis. The five-cent postage is stamped in the upper right hand corner. (ARC150-JNL-C-2 012)
Middle right: An 1848 letter written to Joseph E. N. Lewis in Williamsburg, Virginia, from his mother, Mary Muse Lewis in Charlestown, Virginia [now Charles Town, West Virginia]. The five-cent postage is handwritten in the upper right hand corner. (ARC150-JNL-C 011)
Lower: An 1849 letter written to Joseph E. N. Lewis in Charlestown, Virginia [now Charles Town, West Virginia], from Robert Lackey in Heathsville, Virginia. The five-cent postage is handwritten in the upper right hand corner. (ARC150-JNL-C-8 013)