BE30

Tyner (Tennessee) 9 GEO Straight Line -- CSA #2 Paterson (4-Margin) tied to full cover by Tyner (Tennessee) 9 GEO Straight Line cancel (not dated) (SL-15). The stamp is also tied by a pen cancel. Addressed to Miss Olivia A. Espy, Centre, Ala. Olivia Adaliza Espry married her cousin Joseph Samuel Espy, the likely sender of the cover, in 1865. Joseph S. Esp(e)y enlisted 9/10/1862 in Smith’s Ga Legion and transferred to Co D 65th Ga Inf 3/15/1863. This Tyner cancel has always been somewhat of a puzzle until Gen Bush determined that the 9 GEO in the cancel was not a date but refers to Tyner being a station on the East Tennessee and Georgia Railroad located 9 miles from Chattanooga and the Georgia border. Gen Bush published his findings in the Confederate Philatelist Nov-Dec 1991 issue. A copy of the railway time table is enclosed which clearly shows this to be the case. The listing in the new CSA Catalog erroneously states that the mark is a date. Why that was changed in the catalog is unknown as that was not what  Gen Bush as section editor originally submitted. One of only two currently recorded examples of this scarce straight line cancel. Clean appearing cover with a right edge repair, a missing side flap, and just a little light foxing. Ex-Gallagher.

SOLD $2,500.00