Hi Everyone,
I wonder if you could help me identify the Post Office cancel in this cancel. It is not as straight forward as it might first seem. Here are the pics:
The Saint Anthony Post Offices in Minnesota are as follows:
You can see in the cancel "St Anthony ??". The first letter of the ?? looks like an "S" to me.
And what do you think the date is? My guess is 1855.
They who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. -Benjamin Franklin 20 Mar 2014 11:44:24pm
re: Need some help identifying the Post Office in this cancel
Hard to see, but to my tired old eyes it looks like an "H". The date looks like "1885".
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"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. -Edmund Burke"
"St. Anthony Falls was the only waterfall on the upper stretch of the Mississippi. Father Louis Hennepin brought the Falls to the attention of the world, Hennepin County where the falls are located bears his name. He named the falls them after his patron saint."
Based on the above I think the original name of the falls was St. Anthony's Falls, and that is what I think the cancel has an S at the end of Anthony denoting ownership. This is a "St. Anthonys Falls" cancel. It doesn't look to me like there is room for "Sta." at the end of the cancel, but I could be wrong.
The date is most likely 1865 given that this particular postal stationery was issued in 1865, and was most likely not in use in 1885 (though possible).
The killer is unusual though. Quite interesting cover.
re: Need some help identifying the Post Office in this cancel
Good thought David,
Climate Prairie is listed as an active Post Office as at June 30, 1855 in the book "Post Office Directory, or Business Man's Guide to the Post Offices in the United States" by D.D.T Leech. This is a free book available on Google. With that in mind, I think Antonio is probably correct re the date stamp. Interestingly, St. Anthony's Falls is also listed in this book.
I think this is going to be a very useful book going forward.
I still have more questions than answers 21 Mar 2014 04:45:54pm
re: Need some help identifying the Post Office in this cancel
Tim,
Very interesting cancel. I believe it is St Anthony's Falls. If you go to the library look for the Minnesota Postal History book by Floyd Risvold. It is specific to the territorial period, but I still find it usefull identifying types of cancels in the statehood period. The double ring cancel was a later cancel, but St. Anthony's Falls with the plural Anthony is usually on the earlier items. I have about 15 cancels from St. Anthony (or Anthonys) Falls from 1850 up through 1872. None have a double ring. I don't believe it to be 1885 as it became a branch of the Minneapolis post office in 1873. I do have some Minneapolis cancels that are double ring very similar to yours and they are from the mid 1860's. I am going to guess at 1865. A keeper for sure.
I still have more questions than answers 21 Mar 2014 04:57:46pm
re: Need some help identifying the Post Office in this cancel
The Climax Prairie post office closed in 1874, but you can't completely rely on that because people can address things to a city that does not have a post office that has it's mail handled by another post office. That has sent me down the wrong path more than once before. Do you use retorreveal? You can scan your cover and view it with different filters and it's amazing what sometimes "pops" right out. It's a free download. It may make the portions of the postmark clearer.