Introduction (this page)

Section 1. Express Companies serving Hartford

Section 2. History of the Hartford Letter Mail

Section 3. Stamps of the Hartford Letter Mail

Section 4. Covers of the Hartford Letter Mail

Section 5. Biographies of the Originators

Section 6. Plating Guide and Enlargements

Section 7. References

Combination PDF file of all sections

Hunter Plating (enlargement)

Preston Pane (partial reconstruction from one sheet)

Introduction
 

(Please note that the combination PDF file of this material will appear in the forthcoming book by Michael Gutman on the Independent Mail companies)

There has long been a dearth of accurate information regarding the 1844 Independent Mail Company that operated briefly between August 1844 and June 30, 1845 carrying letter mail away from Hartford, Connecticut and vicinity. The stamps of the company were listed in Coster's seminal work on local posts published in 1882 where they were described under the heading of "Hartford Mail."  The company will be styled by the present author as "Hartford Letter Mail" as a descriptive name in the absence of any corporate name having been discovered. They issued two adhesive stamps printed from a single plate of twelve subjects. Their black on yellow stamps are recorded genuinely used from Hartford to New York City and points further south. Their black on pink stamps are recorded genuinely used on cover only from Hartford to Boston. Atypically for an Independent Mail Company, these stamps were only available in Hartford and are not known used on inbound mail addressed to Hartford.

The author of the present study has been privileged to be able to examine the largest group of stamps and covers of the Hartford Letter Mail ever formed. As viewed and inventoried, the group represents over 90% of the reported examples of both stamp and covers. I refer to the holding of stamps and covers that was begun by Francis Stern in the period before 1950, and that was continued and expanded by Henry Conland. When received for study, the ex Stern portion of the collection remained intact as mounted by Stern who had carefully annotated the names of previous owners. Most of the material used in this study has not been seen by the current generation of collectors or dealers, certainly not seen in its entirety.

As will be shown, the Hartford Letter Mail was operated by Francis Fuller. A possible partner, Edward Parsons, has also been identified. From August 1844 until June 30, 1845 southbound letter mail carriage from Hartford was arranged by Fuller using Phillips Express for actual carriage via New Haven to New York City. From late in 1844 until June 30, 1845 Fuller used Thompson's Express for carriage of letter mail northbound to Springfield and onward eastbound to Boston or westbound to Albany.

This treatise is organized by sections as follows:

1. The Express Companies serving Hartford before July 1844

2. The History of the Hartford Letter Mail

3. The Stamps of the Hartford Letter Mail

4. The Covers of the Hartford Letter Mail

5. Biographies of the Originators

6. Plating Guide and Enlargements

7. References