This article is from the Nov-Dec 1998 issue of the Confederate Philatelist. Posted with the permission of the journal editor.
Col Monroe's article, "Two-Cent Green Gutter Strip Discovery" in the July-August 1998 CP elicited another strip of five on cover from Col. George Clippert which cover we would like to share with you.
Pictured here in Figure 1 is the cover. The stamps are cancelled with strikes of the Camden, Arkansas, postmark dated August 13 [probably 1862].
 |
The envelope is made from an unused steamboat bill of lading for the shipment of cotton to New Orleans (Figure 2).
 |
Per Col Clippert, "Large amounts of cotton were shipped on packets plying the Ouachita River from Camden, into the Mississippi River and on to New Orleans. The packet boat operators worked very hard to solicit freight shipments of various goods purchased in New Orleans with the proceeds from the cotton sales to be returned to Camden."
The cover is addressed to Falcon, Arkansas, a small town about 33 miles southwest of Camden. While a Confederate post office operated at Falcon, to our knowledge no covers from this office have survived.
Return to Top of Page