Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries, Inc. Sale

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The David Golden Collection of Hawaiian Stamps and Postal History continued...

U.S.-Hawaii Mail via Mexico continued...

Lot

Sym.

Lot Description

31°

"Honolulu, February 28/44". Dateline on greenish folded letter from Brewer & Co. to James Hunnewell in Boston via Mazatlan, Vera Cruz and New York, sender's route directive "Via Mexico", mostly clear strike of "FRANCO EN/VERACRUZ." two-line handstamp on back, entered U.S. post office with red "New-York Ship Jun. 23" circular datestamp, blue manuscript "39-1/2" double rate (37-1/2c postage plus 2c ship fee), Jun. 25 receipt docketing, file folds, Very Fine, carried on the Hawaiian schooner Hooikaika, which sailed from Honolulu on Feb. 28, 1844, only five covers recorded with the two-line "FRANCO EN/VERACRUZ." handstamp, Gregory Census Eastbound No. 42 (Image)

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E. 1,000-1,500

SOLD for $1,800.00
Will close during Public Auction

32°

"Rev. D. Baldwin, Missionary Sandh Islands, Care of W. W. Scarborough, Mazatlan, Via New York & Vera Cruz". Address on folded letter datelined "Northford Con. U.S.A. Dec. 31st 1845" from Charles M. Fowler (Rev. Baldwin's brother-in-law) to his brother-in-law and sister, evangelical content with some strong anti-slavery and anti-Clay comments, westbound to Lahaina via New York, Vera Cruz, Mazatlan and Honolulu, blue manuscript "Northford Ct Jany 5" (1846) postmark, black manuscript "Paid 10" for postage to Mexico, carried by packet to Vera Cruz, entered Mexican post office with "VERA CRUZ/FEBRERO 2" (1846) framed datestamp, faint red oval handstamp which cannot be read, receipt docketing "Charles M. Fowler, Jan. 2 1846, Rcd at Lahaina, March 20th 1846, Answered Mar 20/46/ Ans. more full board & Union", some splits along folds and overall toning

VERY FINE. ONE OF SEVEN RECORDED COVERS IN PRIVATE HANDS THAT MADE THE WESTBOUND TRIP FROM THE UNITED STATES TO HAWAII VIA MEXICO.

This letter is similar to the two 1842 letters from Delia (Baldwin) Hotchkiss to her brother and sister in Lahaina (one offered in lot 28). They are similarly addressed, which is interesting considering this letter was written three years later than the others. All three were carried from New York to Vera Cruz on the regular monthly packet. The letters entered the Mexican post office (this one on Feb. 2, 1846). From there they made the overland trip to Mazatlan, where a forwarder arranged for transport to Hawaii. Scarborough & Co. handled the two earlier letters, but by 1846 Scarborough had left Mazatlan and returned to Cincinnati. If one could read the red oval marking, it would probably give the name of the forwarder in Mazatlan. We do know that this letter was carried on the USS Cyane, which arrived in Honolulu on Mar. 13, 1846. The letter was sent to Lahaina and reached the Reverend Baldwin on Mar. 20.

Westbound covers to Hawaii via Mexico are very rare. The Gregory census records 61 eastbound (from Hawaii) and 25 westbound (to Hawaii), but a much larger percentage of westbound covers are held in institutional collections, leaving only seven in private hands.

Gregory Census Westbound No. 24. Ex Van Dyke. See lot 28 for another westbound letter from the Baldwin correspondence. (Image)

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E. 2,000-3,000

SOLD for $3,250.00
Will close during Public Auction

33°

"Honolulu March 10/46". Dateline on blue folded letter from C. Brewer & Co. to James Hunnewell in Boston via Mazatlan, Vera Cruz and New Orleans, letter headed with ship-name directive "per Brig Glide Via Mazatlan" and addressed "via Mexico", "Franqueado Vera Cruz Junio 12" circular datestamp on back, entered U.S. post office with blue "New Orleans La. Jun. 24" (1846) circular datestamp and matching "10" rate handstamp (without 2c ship fee), receipt docketing on flap, file folds, Very Fine, as directed this was carried on the brig Glide, which departed Honolulu on Mar. 11, 1846 -- within a few months this route was shut down when the U.S. blockaded Mexican ports -- Gregory Census Eastbound No. 51 (Image)

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E. 1,000-1,500

SOLD for $1,100.00
Will close during Public Auction

34°

"Ewa March 16th 1846". Dateline on folded letter from Rev. Artemis Bishop to his son, Sereno Bishop, at Amherst College in Mass. via Monterey (Alta California), Mazatlan, Vera Cruz and New Orleans, letter mentions arrival of USS Cyane, discusses talk of war between U.S. and England over "such a worthless region as the Oregon", other good content re Hawaiian population and missionary work, lightly struck "Franqueado Vera Cruz" circular datestamp on back, entered U.S. post office with part strike of blue "New Orleans La. Jun. ?" (1846) circular datestamp, matching "SHIP" and large "12" rate handstamps (10c plus 2c ship fee), receipt docketing on flap, light toning along file folds, Very Fine, carried on the USS Cyane, sailing from Honolulu on Mar. 19, 1846, and stopping at Monterey en route to Mazatlan -- within a few months this route was shut down when the U.S. blockaded Mexican ports -- Gregory Census Eastbound No. 52 (Image)

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E. 1,000-1,500

SOLD for $1,100.00
Will close during Public Auction

35°

"Port Lahina Sandwich Island April the 13th 1846... Written On Board Barque Gem of Sagharbor". Dateline on folded letter from George Chester, a crewman aboard the whaling bark Gem of Sag Harbor while stopped at Lahaina, to his parents on Shelter Island, Suffolk County, New York, via Mazatlan, Vera Cruz and Pensacola Fla., route directive in another hand at top "via Mexico", lightly struck "Franqueado Vera Cruz" circular datestamp on back, bold "Pensacola Flor. Sep. 12" (1846) circular datestamp, manuscript "pr. Overland Mail" and "10" rate appear to be in same hand and ink, lightly wrinkled and some scattered spotting

VERY FINE. ONE OF THREE RECORDED COVERS FROM HAWAII TO THE UNITED STATES VIA MEXICO THAT ENTERED THE GULF PORT OF PENSACOLA, FLORIDA.

The Gregory census of trans-Mexico covers lists three that entered the port of Pensacola after departing Vera Cruz. The letter offered in this sale as lot 20 was sent from Honolulu in 1836. This and the third recorded example were carried together in the same mail, which left Honolulu aboard the French bark Jeune France on June 4, 1846. They both entered the U.S. mails at Pensacola on Sep. 12. The other letter has a C. Brewer & Co. forwarder's marking that was applied in Honolulu. Curiously, all three letters that transited Pensacola were rated without the usual 2c ship fee.

The bark Gem of Sag Harbor, from which the writer sent his letter, was wrecked off Samoa in 1848 during this whaling expedition. Evidently most or all of the crew were saved and taken to Apia.

Gregory Census Eastbound No. 55 (Image)

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E. 2,000-3,000

SOLD for $6,250.00
Will close during Public Auction

36°

"Honolulu, Feb. 2nd 1848". Dateline on lengthy folded letter from Joel Turrill, the United States Consul at Honolulu, to his brother-in-law, Stephen Lathrop, in Oswego N.Y. via Mazatlan and Vera Cruz on disrupted trans-Mexico route, coincidentally the letter is dated on the exact day The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed, which ended the war that interrupted the trans-Mexico mail route, letter mentions that "Mr. Jarves leaves in the morning for San Francisco & Mazatlan... I feel desirous to forward a few lines by him", clear strike of "Franqueado Vera Cruz Mayo 15" (1848) circular datestamp on back, transferred to the United States provisional post office in Vera Cruz, bold strike of "VERA CRUZ/MEXICO MAY 17" two-line framed datestamp, manuscript "10" rate for U.S. postage over 300 miles, small stain and scuff in address

VERY FINE. ONE OF SIX RECORDED COVERS CARRIED FROM HAWAII TO THE UNITED STATES VIA MEXICO AFTER THE MEXICAN-AMERICAN WAR DISRUPTED THE TRANS-MEXICO ROUTE. ONLY TWO COVERS ARE RECORDED WITH THE UNITED STATES PROVISIONAL POST OFFICE "VERA CRUZ/MEXICO" MARKING. A REMARKABLE AND EXTREMELY RARE POSTAL HISTORY ARTIFACT.

The "Mr. Jarves" referred to in the letter from Joel Turrill is James J. Jarves (1818-88), a prominent figure in the history of the Hawaiian Islands. Jarves left Boston for Hawaii in 1837 and, with the exception of two brief departures, stayed there more than a decade. Jarves' business enterprises in Hawaii were generally unsuccessful, but he gained renown as a government official, writer, editor, publisher and art collector. In 1843 he wrote the History of the Hawaiian Islands, and in 1840 he established The Polynesian, one of the first Hawaiian newspapers to be written in English. In 1844 The Polynesian became the official government newspaper and Jarves, with a five-year contract, received the title of Director of the Government Press (the printer of the Missionaries and some Numeral Issues). Jarves was also responsible for ordering the first Hawaiian coins, and he was appointed to represent the Kingdom at the signing of the United States-Hawaiian 1849 treaty. In February 1848 he returned to the United States for three years. It was on this trip to California and Mexico that he carried this letter for his friend, Joel Turrill.

Jarves departed Honolulu on the Hawaiian schooner Starling, which left on Feb. 4, bound for Monterey and Mazatlan (R. S. Kuykendall, The Hawaiian Kingdom 1778-1854, p. 377, footnote 38). Jarves must have left the letter with a forwarding agent in Mazatlan. The other cover with the same "FRANQUEADO VERA CRUZ MAYO 15" and "VERA CRUZ/MEXICO MAY 17" 1848 datestamps (Gregory Census Eastbound No. 62) is directed to the care of Mott, Talbot & Co. (Scarborough's successors in Mazatlan). It is likely that both letters were held by Mott, Talbot & Co. for many weeks until they could arrange for a secure means of transporting mail to Vera Cruz across hostile overland territory. Once the letters reached Vera Cruz, Mexican postage was paid, and they were handed over to the U.S. provisional post office that served soldiers in the Mexican-American War. The 10c rate applied to mail originating in Vera Cruz, just as if it were a U.S. post office more than 300 miles from the destination.

Gregory Census Eastbound No. 61. Ex Semsrott. This cover was the subject of an article by Dr. W. Scott Polland (Western Express, July 1965). (Image)

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E. 4,000-5,000

SOLD for $9,500.00
Will close during Public Auction