INDEPENDENT MAILS continued...

VERY FINE. ONE OF THREE RECORDED COVERS SHOWING CONJUNCTIVE USE OF BRAINARD & COMPANY'S BLUE ADHESIVE AND HALE'S SERVICE TO PHILADELPHIA.

It has been stated -- with the pretense of authority but without source documentation -- that the Brainard & Co.'s Black stamp was used exclusively at the Troy office, and the Blue stamp exclusively at the Albany office. However, surviving covers -- in our opinion, genuine usages -- prove this statement to be inaccurate. Of the seven Black 24L1 covers we located in auction catalogues and our photo files, two were mailed from Troy, these are a Sep. 16, 1844, folded letter and an undated cover (to William B. Marsh), both to New York City. One of the remaining five Black 24L1 covers is a Jun. 21, 1845, folded letter with two tied stamps paying the double rate from New York City to Albany (ex Caspary). No less than four Black 24L1 covers were mailed from Albany. Among these is a Jul. 18, 1844, folded letter to New York City with the red Brainard & Co. Albany oval, bearing a stamp tied by pen cancel (ex Schwartz). The other three Black 24L1 covers from Albany are from the well-known Cornelius & Co. correspondence, each addressed to Philadelphia, which involved conjunctive service between Brainard & Co. (Albany to New York City) and Hale & Co. (New York City to Philadelphia). In two cases, the Brainard & Co. Black stamp paid half of the postage, and the other half (Hale's share) was represented by a "6" due marking. The third conjunctive-use cover from the Cornelius & Co. correspondence (ex Peltz) bears two Black 24L1 stamps for both rates involved and no due marking, which corroborates the genuine double-rate franking and the two single frankings (half prepaid, half unpaid).

Of the nine genuine Blue 24L2 covers we record (there are probably two or three others we missed), seven originated at Albany and have the manuscript "B" cancel (or control mark), written in at least two styles: an ornate "B" used July-August 1844 (see lot 239) and a simpler "B" used from Sep. 9, 1844, into mid-1845. Among these "B" covers is the earliest bearing any Brainard & Co. stamp, dated Jul. 5, 1844, from Albany to Cornelius & Co. in Philadelphia, which has no other markings (nevertheless, conjunctive service was involved). The last two Blue 24L2 covers have the manuscript "F" cancel (or control mark), which Elliott Perry thought may have been applied by Hale's Troy agent, L. Farwell, to letters entrusted to Hale by Brainard, possibly under a cooperative arrangement during the winter when Brainard service was suspended (see lot 239). The Black stamp is not known with the manuscript "B" or "F".

Based on the evidence, we suggest that the Blue stamps were accepted by agents in Albany ("B") and Troy ("F"), and the Black stamps were used on mail carried by agents through Albany or Troy interchangeably. The initials on the Blue stamps may have been precancels applied to control distribution and accounting.

We should also mention the existence of a Blue 24L1 cover, not counted in our census, that has been owned and offered as genuine by a dealer. In our opinion, the cover has been rather obviously "enhanced" with the addition of the adhesive. It is a folded letter dated Nov. 5, 1844, sent from Albany to New York City, which involved only Brainard & Co.'s service (as opposed to conjunctive use with Hale). To justify the presence of a "6" due marking, the dealer has claimed it is a double-rate cover, half paid by stamp and the other half due. The simpler explanation is that the cover was carried postage-due by Brainard & Co. with the oval and "6" markings normally found on this firm's stampless covers from Albany to New York City, and the adhesive, which is affixed at lower left, has been added to make the cover more attractive and saleable.

The cover offered here was acquired by the Halls from Charles J. Phillips in 1926. References: Perry-Hall (Schwartz, editor), "Brainard & Co.", Chronicle, May 2000, and Calvet M. Hahn, "The Brainard Independent Mail Companies", Collectors Club Philatelist, May-June 1984. (Image)

EXTREMELY FINE. AN OUTSTANDING COVER BEARING THE RARE BRAINARD BLUE STAMP USED IN CONJUNCTION WITH AMERICAN LETTER MAIL COMPANY SERVICE.

The description for lot 238 provides our analysis of sixteen Brainard & Co.'s stamped covers (seven Black 24L1 and nine Blue 24L2) we located in auctions and our photo files. Although at least one previous writer has claimed that the Black stamps were used exclusively at Troy N.Y. and the Blue exclusively at Albany N.Y., the surviving covers disprove this unsubstantiated theory.

The cover offered here bears the Brainard & Co. Blue stamp, cancelled by the "B" in manuscript, of which there are at least two distinct versions. The ornate "B" seen on this stamp is also found on a Blue 24L2 cover dated July 5, 1844, the earliest recorded use of any Brainard & Co. stamp (from the Cornelius & Co. correspondence). Other "B" cancels follow on Sep. 5, 1844, and in 1845, all of which are in a simpler style. The "F" cancel is recorded on two covers, one undated and another dated Jan. 29, 1845 ("German" sale, lot 751), the latter falling into the period when Brainard & Co. is reported to have stopped service due to winter conditions on the Hudson River. The stamp on the Jan. 29 cover is also tied by Brainard's Troy oval. Elliott Perry thought that the "F" was applied by Hale's Troy agent, L. Farwell, on letters entrusted by Brainard to Hale, possibly under a cooperative arrangement. The Jan. 29 "F" cover (and presumably the undated cover) supports the concept that Brainard's mail was handled by Hale's Troy agent during the winter of 1844-45.

The cover offered here is the only Brainard & Co. stamped cover in our records showing conjunctive use with the American Letter Mail Company.

Ex Caspary. (Image)