With South Carolina's secession from the Union on December 20, 1860, an exciting era of postal history began. For four and a half years the South was in a virtual state of chaos. Few supplies could be brought in and no technology existed to produce even the most basic needs.

The South was an agrarian society with no industrial base A few textile mills were about the only industry that existed. With the federal blockade of the ports, the South became a closed society with little means to produce for itself.

One of the most difficult tasks Jefferson Davis had in forming his new government was locating a Postmaster General. His final appointment, John H. Reagan, had to be asked numerous times before he would agree to assume the duties. Reagan knew the operations of the mail would be the most important job in the new government, yet it would be one of the least rewarding.

The citizens would expect the same level of uninterrupted service they were currently receiving, yet Reagan knew he would have a difficult time fulfilling the expectations of these citizens. Upon taking office, he quickly began soliciting help from Southern sympathizers working in the U.S. postal operations. He hired as many as he could and requested they bring with them everything they could - forms, maps, route agent names - anything that would help in forming this new postal system.

The decision was made that on June 1, 1861 all Union postal operations would cease and the Confederate postal operations would begin. Needless to say, Reagan was not ready for this quick beginning. It would be October of 1861 before the first stamp would be printed and distributed to the post office. Few printers in the South have the ability to print stamps, not to mention the near non-existence of paper making equipment.

This lack of knowledge and technology is a key factor in making Confederate postal history one of the most interesting areas of collecting. Throughout the war the demands did not slow. In order to perform the Southern people had to make do with what they had and "make do they did"!

Scott #26 paying 3 cents Union rate on a corner card cover posted from Hamptonville, NC, May 27, 1861. The first day of Confederate operations in North Carolina.

In the Summer of 1978 I acquired my first Confederate cover (Fig. 1). While purchasing a collection of Confederate covers for resale, the owner ended the transaction by handing me a cover posted in Hamptonville, NC on May 27, 1861 and informing me that this was a gift to me.

May 27 was significant in North Carolina because it was the day it entered the Confederacy, thus a first day of Confederate operations in North Carolina. At this point, Union postage was still valid in the South. Four days later, only Confederate postage would be valid. North Carolina had the shortest time of any state out of the Union prior to the beginning of the Confederate post office - a total of only 11 days.

May 27 was significant to myself because it was my birth date. My customer had discovered this in our conversation and felt I should have this cover for myself. I expect he never thought nearly 20 years later I'd still own that cover and that it would be a key cover in my own personal collection of North Carolina Confederate postal history.

With the absence of postage stamps, the Confederate Postmasters had to find a solution to the problem. Many of them went back to their earlier days of stampless markings, requiring the patrons to bring covers to the Postmaster with no pre-payment ability. This posed a problem in that how was one to pay 5 cents postage when the smallest currency that existed was a 50 cent note?

Gaston, NC paid 5 provisional using a 30 mm Gaston control marking to indicate pre-payment of postage.

The Postmaster addressed this need by creating provisional postage. Many Postmasters would prepare in advance envelopes with postage paid markings on them. Figure 2 is an example of a Gaston, NC paid 5 provisional. Only one example of this marking has ever been discovered. The Postmaster used a dateless Gaston handstamp with a paid 5 marking within as a control marketing to indicate the prepayment of five cents. The cover was later returned to the post office with a letter enclosed. The Postmaster then handstamped the envelope with a November 26, (1861) circle date stamp.

Scott #40XU1 Lenoir, NC, type 1, 5 cent adhesive provisional stamp. Only 500 such copies were printed by the Postmaster of Lenoir.

The son of Postmaster John Harper of Lenoir was somewhat more creative. He carved a stamp in pear wood and printed 500 copies of a provisional stamp on ruled paper that were sold to post office patrons. An example of one of these stamps can be seen in Figure 3. To date, 27 of these stamps have been recorded, two of which are on similar Davenport female college covers.

Scott #12 10 cent blue Jefferson Davis type 1 stamp tied by blue Charlotte, NC dateless handstamp. Envelope is made from yellow, orange, green and pink wallpaper.

As the war progressed, paper supplies became almost non-existent. Individuals used almost every scrap of paper they could find to continue communication. A striking example of this is Figure 4, a wallpaper cover. Contrary to some beliefs, wallpaper was not pulled off the walls to make envelopes. Excess rolls of wallpaper were commercially used to make envelopes and sold to Southern citizens. They made quite attractive envelopes and served their purpose well.

Asheville, NC October 26 (1863) stampless paid 10 on envelope made from 1848 map.

Another example of these creative hard times is Figure 5, an example made from an old map. This was most likely a homemade envelope that put to good use some paper that was no longer needed. I expect most of you thought recycling began in the mid 20th century. Here are two examples of recycling 130 years earlier.

Scott #12 dark blue Jefferson Davis Type II printed by Keating & Ball of Columbia, SC posted from Raleigh on March 21, 1865.

By the end of the war another hurdle was in place. The South had been split into several pieces and crossing through these lines became difficult. The cover shown in Figure 6 is an example of such. The addresser mailed the envelope on March 21, 1865 from Raleigh, NC to Winnsboro, SC. Knowing Sherman had passed through this area already, he placed the following instructions on the envelope: "Should mail communications not be opened to Winnsboro the Postmaster at Chester, SC will please forward this on to Mrs. Cockrell at White Oak Station to be sent."

On April 26 the army of Tennessee would surrender in Durham, thus ending the war in North Carolina. It would be July before the formal reopening of federal post offices would begin. This, however, is a story for yet another writing.

Sources:

The New Dietz Confederate States Catalog and Handbook, 1986

The Scott's Specialized Catalog, 1997