Benjamin Sherwood Hedrick (1827-1886) was born in Davidson County NC. He was very highly educated at Harvard College and the University of North Carolina. In 1854, he accepted a position as Professor and Chair of the Department of Analytical and Agricultual Chemistry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In 1856, he left UNC (it is largely believed he was driven out because of his political views as he was a Republican and was publicly anti-slavery) and went North to New York City where he obtained unsatisfactory work. He made his way to Washington DC in 1861 and obtained a position at the US Patent Office where he remained for the rest of his life achieving the position as Chief Examiner of the Chemical Department. In 1852, he married Mary Ellen Thompson also from a North Carolina family. Both the Hedrick and the Thompson families were large and were divided as most family members remained in North Carolina and supported the Confederacy. That is a short summary. A very detailed article titled "Benjamin Sherwood Hedrick: The Man behind the Covers" was written by the late Maurice Bursey who was a noted North Carolina Postal Historian and a Professor of Chemistry at the University of North Carolina. His article was published in the Summer 2008 issue of the North Carolina Postal History Society Postal Historian journal. Professor Bursey had access to all the Hedrick papers archived at UNC and other manuscripts at Duke University. The article can be accessed, read, and printed out at Hedrick Correspondence (opens in a new window).
NC906	A remarkable group of three overall University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill) College Covers from the Hedrick Correspondence illustrating three different postal uses -- 1) Civilian Through-the-Lines, 2) Blockade between the CSA and the USA, 3) Immediate post-war USA use.  1) USA #65 with a quartered "X" cork cancel and the Old Point Comfort, VA, double ring Union postmark dated 15 DEC (1863 noted on the reverse). Overall yellow University of North Carolina Advertising College Cover (CC NC-14a). Addressed to Mrs. B. S. Hedrick, Washington City D. C. with period "by flag of Truce" notation at the lower left. The sender of this cover is not identified but would have been a family member in Chapel Hill NC as the routing notation indicates that this was an inside envelope with the Union postage affixed of a Civilian Through-the-Lines cover transferred through Union Old Point Comfort, Va., where the outer envelope was discarded. Professor Hedrick would have had easy access to Union stamps and undoubtedly sent Union stamps to his family in North Carolina to maintain the correspondence. 2) USA #65 with a segmented cork cancel and the New-York (City) double ring CDS 11 JUL (1864 noted on the reverse). Overall pink University of North Carolina Advertising College Cover (CC NC-14a). Addressed to Prof B. S. Hedrick, Washington City, District of Columbia, United States. Professor Bursey has identifed the handwriting on this cover as that of Mrs. Eliza Thompson, the step-mother of Professor Hedrick's wife, Mary Ellen (Thompson) Hedrick. Eliza Thompson lived in Chapel Hill which would be the most likely origin of the cover. The use of "United States" in the address and the fact that the cover was routed through New York City strongly suggests that this is a Blockade Cover most likely through Wilmington NC with the Union postage already affixed. 3) USA #65 tied by the New Berne NC double ring CDS dated 30 JUL (1865 noted on the reverse). Overall gray University of North Carolina Advertising College Cover (CC NC-14a). Addressed to Prof B. S. Hedrick, Washington City, District of Columbia, U.S. This cover is in the same handwriting as the Blockade Cover and is from Mrs. Eliza Thompson. The "1865" on the reverse indicates that this cover is very soon after the end of the war and went through the regular USA mail service as New Berne NC was under Union occupation since early 1862 and had a well established Union post office. Except for just a few minor back flap opening tears on two covers, all three covers are Very Fine. These covers belong together and will only be sold as a group of three covers. They will not be sold individually.	$3,750.00 Three Overall UNC College Covers

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