| VA3213 |
CSA #12 (AD) (4-Margin and affixed at the upper left corner) tied by the Abingdon, Va CDS
20 MAR. Addressed to Mr. John H. Cook, New Market Depot G & C RR
(Greenville and Columbia Railroad), Abbeville District, South Carolina.
In manuscript at lower left “PM please forward by the Millway Carrier.”
The address and notations on the cover are just a bit light but are
still perfectly legible. The cover is otherwise Very Fine.
This is also a Turned Cover with an inside use -- CSA #11c (AD) Greenish-Blue tied by a partial strike of the large single rim Winchester, Va CDS
(date not apparent). Addressed to Corpl J. P. Cook, Washington
Hospital, Abingdon, Virginia. Corpl J. P. Cook served in Co G 2nd SC Cav
which was with the ANV in 1863 and 1864. Could find no information on
Corpl Cook as to why he was in the hospital, but he apparently used
this cover that he received to send a letter home to his father by way
of the Millway Carrier.
The “Millway Carrier” notation has always been somewhat of a mystery. Even though the cover originates in Virginia,
the mark is associated with the Millway SC post office. Pre-war and CSA
covers are both known with the “Millway Carrier” notation. “Millway”
was also the name of a plantation in that area. Noted CSA Philatelist
Dick Krieger wrote a two-part article on the “Millway Carrier” notation
which appeared in the May-June and July-August 1988 issues of the
Confederate Philatelist. In his article, he outlines the very confusing
mail routes in the Millway region of the Abbeville District and points
out that the “Millway Carrier” notation is seen only on covers
addressed to New Market SC. New Market was a depot on the Greenville
and Columbia Railroad some 15-20 miles distant from Millway. Neither
New Market nor Millway appear on a current map of South Carolina. He
further concluded that the notation was a routing instruction applied
by the sender to make certain that the letters were carried on to
Millway by the official government mail routes. In other words, this
was not a private carrier service. There has been some speculation
among SC Postal Historians that a slave from the plantation may have
been used at least part of the time to bring the mail from New Market
to Millway, but this remains as speculation and has not been proven. |
$500.00 |
JLKCSA@aol.com
-- Confederate Order
Form --