Overton & Co., (5c) Black on
Greenish (113L1). Large to huge margins, ms. "X" cancel (bleed-thru
effectively ties stamp), faint red "Forwarded by Overton & Co. 3 Broad
Street, New York" oval handstamp on folded cover to Providence R.I.,
docketed "July 29" (1844)EXTREMELY FINE STAMP ON AN ATTRACTIVE COVER. THE JULY 29, 1844, DOCKETING DATE IS THE EARLIEST RECORDED USE OF THE OVERTON STAMP.
Overton & Co. was a letter-and-package express and foreign-mail forwarding agency founded by Richard Carleton Overton prior to July 3, 1844 (the date of the earliest advertisement). Overton & Co. issued stamps for use on inter-city letters, there are 21 recorded stamped covers from July 29, 1844 (the docketing date of this cover), through June 30, 1845, the day before the independent mail carriers were forced out of business by the July 1845 postal laws. No Overton cover is recorded after June 30th. On July 22, 1844, Overton announced expanded service, including Providence R.I., the destination of this cover.
Ex Ackerman. (Image)
Forwarded by Overton & Co.
23-1/2 State Street, Boston. Oval handstamp and "Paid" straightline on
cover to Nantucket Mass., with sender's endorsement "American Mail
Co.", original letter datelined New York City, Oct. 13, 1844, which
mentions "Your last letter came... by the American Mail Co., please send
them all the same way.", Very Fine, Overton expanded service thru links
with other independent mail firms, but covers explicitly identifying
conjunctive usage are rare (Image)