Name/Title
Choosing the first RFD carriersEntry/Object ID
IMG1742 veDescription
Captain George H. Flagg, the postmaster at Charles Town, was tasked to choose the first five rural route carriers. At a meeting in Rouss Memorial Hall on September 17, 1896, a group of prominent citizens of Charles Town and Captain Flagg met and chose Harry C. Gibson for route number one, Frank Young for route number two, and John W. Lucas for route number three from Charles Town. I. Keyes Strider was selected for the route from Halltown, while Melvin T. Strider was chosen for Uvilla, although at the time he was so young that, in order to comply with the regulations, he was obliged to serve a week without pay, until he reached his sixteenth birthday.
Upper: Charles Broadway Rouss Memorial Hall, date unknown. From the Edwin A. Fitzpatrick, Jr., Collection. (IMG1742)
Lower: George H. Flagg, postmaster in Charles Town when rural free delivery was begun, date unknown. From the Edwin A. Fitzpatrick, Jr., Collection. (IMG771)