Miss Dolina Macdonald, Student Teacher
Nova Scotia # 10, lower marginal stamp, on "lady's" cover mailed September 10, 1867 from New Glasgow, Nova Scotia to Truro, Nova Scotia. Addressed to Miss Dolina MacDonald, Normal School, Care of Rev. Alexr Forrester, D.D., Truro, Nova Scotia. Stamp tied with barred oval cancellation. Backstamps NEW GLASGOW, SE 10, 1867, TRURO SE 10, 1867. The envelope is addressed: Miss Dolina Macdonald Normal School Care of Rev. Alexr Forrester, D.D.Truro, Nova Scotia It was mailed
2 days ago5 min read
A Halifax Merchant Writes to Baltimore
Nova Scotia # 12 on September 21, 1864 cover from Halifax to Baltimore. Addressed to Messrs James Corner & Sons, Baltimore. Manuscript "pr str 'Commerce' via Boston" on front. Stamp tied with barred oval cancellation. Backstamp HALIFAX SP 21 1864. Manuscript D. H. Pitts, Sept 21/27 1864 inside back flap. The envelope was addressed to: Messrs. James Corner & Sons Baltimore Across the top is the routing instruction “pr Str ‘Commerce,’ via Boston.” A 10¢ Nova Scotia Queen Victor
3 days ago8 min read
55,000 Feet of Hemlock - A Mahone Bay Merchant, a Halifax Shipowner, and the Coal Mines of Glace Bay -
The Cover The envelope is addressed: Mr. Henry Schnare Mahone Bay The Halifax postmark is dated 19 November 1864, and the Mahone Bay receiving mark on the reverse is dated 21 November. The enclosed letter is dated in Halifax the same day: Halifax, 19th November 1864, and begins: Mr. Henry Schnare, Mahone Bay I wrote you on the 12th inst. for about 30 M 2 in. & 5 M 1 in. Hemlock, to be ready for shipment in two weeks. I today received a letter from Mr. Archbold stating that he
4 days ago8 min read
Between Wallace and Pugwash: Two Letters Before a Marriage
On November 27, 1860, a small envelope travelled from Pugwash to Wallace, Nova Scotia. It was addressed simply: Mr. Henry Smith, Wallace Twenty days later, on December 17, 1860, another small envelope made the same trip in the opposite direction, from Wallace to Pugwash. It too was addressed simply: Miss Harriet Amelia Wilson, Pugwash Read together, the two envelopes look very much like two sides of a correspondence: a letter from Harriet in Pugwash to Henry Smith in Wallace,
6 days ago9 min read
A Letter from Halifax to Clifton, N.B.
Wetmores, Hannington, and an Intercolonial Connection in 1866 This February 1866 cover addressed to Rev. David I. Wetmore at Clifton, Kings County, New Brunswick, was mailed from Halifax and bears a five-cent Nova Scotia Queen Victoria stamp. On the back are the names Atkinson & Hannington, Dorchester, N.B., along with an embossed Halifax stationer's imprint: Z. S. Hall, 155 Hollis Street, Halifax, N.S.The letter itself has disappeared, but the cover survives, minus its back
Sep 169 min read
Samuel Strong, A Merchant, Six Covers, and a Web of Connections
Postal covers are often treated as the frame around a letter, the letter itself is assumed to contain the history. In the case of Samuel Strong of Halifax, many of the letters have disappeared, but the covers have survived. Six of them—spanning 1859 to 1863—are enough to open a surprisingly wide window onto his life and business. They lead from Liverpool, Nova Scotia, to Bradford, England, to Lisburn, Ireland, to Glasgow, Scotland and to London, and connect with the transatl
Sep 1323 min read
David Frieze, Merchant, Maitland
Long before there was a firm called Frieze & Roy, there was simply David Frieze — merchant, of Maitland, Hants County — trading lumber, settling accounts, and keeping up correspondence across half a dozen ports. This post gathers five pieces of mail addressed to him personally between 1850 and 1856, well ahead of the partnership years covered elsewhere on this blog. Where family and company background overlaps with the Grace Dodd post or the coming piece on the Frieze & Roy p
Aug 298 min read
