AL585

Turned Cover -- First Use (inside) with manuscript postal marking "Shelby Sprgs Ala 24 AUG" but no rate and no evidence of a missing stamp. Addressed to Mr. John Holly, Central Institute, Coosa County, Ala. Coarse brown paper adversity cover which is undoubtedly homemade. Second Use (outside) CSA #11 (AD) (4-Margin affixed upside down) tied by full strike of the Central Institute, Ala balloon CDS 8 SEP. Addressed to Mr. J. F. Conoley, Shelby Spring(s), Shelby Co., Ala. Very clean appearing cover with only minor corner wear. Has been opened so that the inside use can be seen. A very scarce Confederate college postmark. Central Institute in Coosa County, Alabama, located 12 miles north of Wetumpka was started as a Baptist High School / College (male students) run by the Central Baptist Association 1854-1860 before being sold to a Professor Thomas C. Bragg (1826-1873). Bragg ran the school for a short time but abandoned his school later in 1861 (the school may have operated without him for a time as the history of the school is unclear) and raised a company enlisting some of his school boys which became Co D 17th Ala Inf with Thomas Bragg as its first captain mustering into service 9/17/1861. He resigned later in 1862 with no further record. The Central Institute had its own post office beginning pre-war and is listed on the 1862 register of US post offices and which continued to operate in the Confederate period for an unknown period of time. There is nothing left of the Central Institute today, and no town in Coosa County, Alabama, by that name.

$1,250.00 SOLD

If you wish to order this cover, send me an E-mail or use my secure Confederate Order Form. Clicking on my Confederate Order Form link below will open the order form in a new window or tab which can be kept open while you browse the remainder of the listings. JLKCSA@aol.com -- Confederate Order Form --