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Civil War-Era Josephine H. Blanchard Correspondence – Leominster, Massachusetts
Offered here is a fascinating group of approximately ten 1860s covers associated with Josephine H. Blanchard of Leominster, Massachusetts.
Most are addressed to Miss Josephine H. Blanchard (one as “Josie”) at Leominster. Another is addressed to Mrs. Lydia H. Blanchard, including an especially useful street address of No. 3 Pleasant Street, Leominster.
The correspondence reached the Blanchard family from a variety of locations, including Worcester, Groton and Harvard, Massachusetts, as well as Washington and Old Point Comfort, Virginia. Old Point Comfort, at Fort Monroe in the Hampton Roads area, was an important Union location during the Civil War.
Several covers bear manuscript or pencil docketing apparently identifying them by letter number, including numbers 5, 17 and 31. These markings suggest that the surviving covers once formed part of a considerably larger correspondence.
The covers are franked primarily with 3¢ Washington stamps of the Civil War era and display an appealing assortment of postal markings and cancellations, including target/concentric-ring, grid, barred and geometric designs. One Worcester cover has a particularly bold radial or sunburst-style cancellation.
Most interestingly, the group appears to document a transition in Josephine\'s own life. While the earlier correspondence is addressed to Miss Josephine H. Blanchard in Leominster, the final cover is addressed to Mrs. Josephine Symonds, Clinton, Massachusetts, apparently preserving her later married name and change of residence.
Condition varies, as expected for correspondence more than 150 years old, with age toning, staining, edge wear, opening faults and other imperfections visible in the photographs. Stamps, postmarks, addresses and manuscript markings should be examined carefully in the high-resolution images. Both fronts and backs are shown.
From the collection of Dr. Allan C. “Doc” Johnson (1889-1941) of Clinton, Massachusetts, an active stamp collector during the early 20th century. Doc\'s collection has remained with his family for more than eight decades.
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