There is before me (Figure 1), a Member of Congress free frank of one Alfred Ely with a postmark of "OLD POINT COMFORT VA JAN 7" addressed to Mr. Seth Chenery Clinton Massachusetts. The boldness of the ink in the frank and the feathering handwriting in the address was not lost on me, in fact, it was this that piqued my interest at first.

Then my memory carne to my relief and I said to myself, Alfred Ely was a prisoner of war as a congressman, and I am sure I have seen another cover like this. So I went to my first source on prisoner of war covers, Earl Antrim's great little book on Civil War prisons, and went through it twice trying to find the Ely frank on a prisoner's letter. To make a long story short, I found Ely listed in the Byne Bibliography Volume 1, and that led me to the articles in The Confederate Philatelist. The most informative is the first by Francis J. Crown, Jr. (July-August 1975) which describes what happened to Ely. He was one of those who went to sightsee at the First Battle of Bull Run, and he had the misfortune to be captured on July 21,1861. His story is given in "Journal of Alfred Ely, A Prisoner of War in Richmond" by Charles Lanman, Ed., D. Appleton & Co., New York, 1862. He was kept at Liggon's Tobacco Warehouse in Richmond for five months. When released in late December 1861, he claims to have carried not only his prison journal but also some 2,000 letters which appear to have mostly been civilian South to North letters rather than prisoner's letters.

Figure 1 -- Alfred Ely Free Frank Old Point Comfort, Va JAN 7.

The cover shown in Crown's article is free franked by Ely with Washington DC January 30 postmark. This cover bears a manuscript inscription from Lt. James Andrevvs "Prisoner of War, Richmond Va." The cover contains the letter showing it written "Military Prison Richmond, Va. Jan 26, 1862" and it appears been hand carried by another prisoner, who was exchanged (post script signed on the original letter). Crown suggests that this exchanged prisoner took it by Ely's office to be franked since the postmark is over a month after Ely was exchanged.

But I would like to suggest a different scenario. We know from another cover by Ely, shown in Dick Corwin's article (The Confederate Philatelist, February 1981) that Ely franked covers for other prisoners while he was still a prisoner of war himself in Richmond. Corwin shows a cover with "WASHINGTON D.C. AUG 8 1861" postmark to a young miss in Danville, NY (either a sister or a girl friend) without prisoner of war inscription. This proves that Ely franked envelopes for others while in prison to pay the U.S. postage on the inner or second envelope.

My envelope is made from the dark wrapping paper so familiar to collectors of Confederate material, and it was sealed with red sealing wax. So I believe Ely franked everything he could lay his hands on and left a supply of blank but franked envelopes when he left the prison. This would explain his frank on two covers sent by different persons that had to have been mailed after he left Richmond. It would also explain the Old Point Comfort, VA, postmark which was appropriate for an examined prisoner of war cover.

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