FINE. A RARE EXAMPLE OF THE "ISLAS DE BARLOVENTO" TWO-LINE HANDSTAMP MARKING FROM SPANISH COLONIAL NEW ORLEANS TO FRANCE.
According to Dr. Yamil Kouri, this originated in Spanish New Orleans and was sent via Havana to Cadiz, Spain, where the "ISLAS DE/BARLOVENTO" (Windward Islands) marking was applied. It was then sent overland to France and rated 16 sous for a single-weight letter from Spain. Dr. Kouri records only one other New Orleans cover bearing this marking, rated 24 sols.
The sender, Antonio Patrick Walsh, was a native of Dublin, Ireland. Walsh served in the Spanish military and in the militia of colonial Louisiana under Spanish rule. He later became involved in shipping, serving Spanish commercial interests in the Caribbean and Mexico as third commander of the ship Louisiana and as the owner of the ship La Mexicana. Following his maritime service, Walsh settled in West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana, where he owned a cotton plantation. (Source: https://www.lib.lsu.edu/sites/default/files/sc/findaid/0887m.pdf )
VERY FINE. THE EARLIEST KNOWN CORRESPONDENCE FROM ALASKA AFTER ITS TRANSFER TO THE UNITED STATES ON OCTOBER 18, 1867.
The treaty purchasing Alaska for $7.2 million (equivalent to $117.8 million in today's dollars) was signed May 28 and the territory was formally transferred on October 18, 1867, less than a week before this was sent. The Resaca was commissioned by the Navy in 1866 and initially patrolled off the Mexican and Central America coasts to protect U.S. interests. After an outbreak of yellow fever affected the Jamestown and Resaca, both ships were sent to Alaska to effectively quarantine. It arrived in Alaska in August 1867 and stayed until 1869.
VERY FINE. FEWER THAN A HALF-DOZEN 1869 PICTORIAL COVERS FROM ALASKA TERRITORY ARE BELIEVED TO EXIST. AN IMPORTANT COVER FOR THE ISSUE AND IN THE STUDY OF EARLY TERRITORIAL POSTAL HISTORY.
From 1867 until 1884, the region later known as the District of Alaska (1884), Territory of Alaska (1912) and the State of Alaska (1959) was officially known as the Department of Alaska. Until 1877 it was under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Army. The Census of 1870 reported 461 whites living in Alaska (with no effort made to count the Eskimo population). Covers from Alaska pre-dating the 1890s are rare, and the 1869 PRA Census estimated three to six extant.
Ex Gimelson. With 1976 P.F. certificate