Authors beginning with R from Kurt A. Sanftleben (4 items)

Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 1878.
This letter from R. (Reuben) D. Reid, son of Governor David S. Reed, to his mother who was managing the family hotel in Reidsville is datelined "Chapel Hill N.C. / Sept 25th 1878". No envelope. In nice shape.
In his letter Ruben reports:
"It seems that our Baptist brother, Prof. Redd is getting to be quite a fighting character. He had a fight with Prof Graves about an air pump and Prof Winston made some remark about Redd whereupon he challenged Winston for a duel, he did not accept, consequently I anticipate no further difficulty. . .."
Rueben also notes in his letter that
"My room mate . . . left last week, he was a good boy and I was sorry to see him leave. I am rooming by myself now and find that I am forced to study to keep from getting homesick. . .. I was glad to hear from Father's last letter that Mr. Patterson was going to take charge of the hotel. I imagine it will be good company for you. . .. Thanks to you for the manner in which you mended my clothes,… Read more

Prisoner of War Enclosure Number 1, St. Pierre des Corps, France via APO 717], 1919. Envelope or Cover. Very good. This partially-printed legal-size envelope from Remki was sent from Prisoner of War Enclosure Number 1 (PWE #1) at St. Pierre des Corps, France which was controlled by the A.E.F.'s Prisoners of War Company No. 1."Prisoner of War Letter" is printed along the top edge of the envelope. Although it bears no postmark, official A.E.F. documents report that PWE #1 was located at St. Pierre des Corps, and its mail was processed via Army Post Office (APO) 717 at Tours, France. A standard violet censor stamp is in the lower left-hand corner and a German "Gepruft / Uberwachungsstelle" (Censored / Monitoring Agency) handstamp in the upper right corner.
A partially printed message on the reverse reads, "From (Serial) No. 7162 Name Remki Franz / Prisoner of War Company No. 1 in France, care of the / Prisoner of War Information Bureau A. G. O. American E. F. / H"
(For more information, see… Read more

Charleston, South Carolina, 1844. Envelope or Cover. Very good. This stampless, folded letter, measuring 16” x 9.75” unfolded, was sent by Ignatius A. Reynolds from Charleston, South Carolina to the President of the Association for the Propagation of the Faith in Lyons, France. It is dated April 3, 1844, just two weeks after he had been consecrated as the Bishop of Charleston. The cover bears a “25” rate handstamp and many other transit markings along with a Lyons receiving postmark. The letter was carried to France on the Cunard Line’s Acadia from Boston to Paris via London. In nice shape. In this letter, Bishop Reynolds relates his recent consecration as the Bishop of Charleston, reports the diocese’s crushing debt, explains the actions already taken to right the financial ship, and request a donation to help complete the task. It reads in part. “I ought to have written to you first, as Lyons is the Mother of the Association. I am a native of Kentucky and have spent 20 years in… Read more

China, India, Southeast Asia, 1836. Envelope or Cover. Very good. This lot contains two stampless folded letters from Naval Surgeon William Samuel Waithman Ruschenberger, aboard the USS Peacock, sent to his mother in Philadelphia while on the return from a diplomatic mission to Cochin-China (today Vietnam), Siam (Thailand), and Muscat (at the time an Arabian sea power on the Gulf of Oman). Both are in very nice shape. The first letter was sent from Macao on 22 Jun 1836 via the HMS Horatio to New York where it entered the U.S. mail bound for Philadelphia. It bears a “New-York Ship Nov. 14 [1836]” circular date-stamp and a manuscript “27” postal rate annotation. The second was sent from the “U.S. Ship Peacock, Off Mazatlan [Mexico], November 10, 1836”. It entered the U.S. mail in at Pensacola, Florida, and bears a near perfect strike of the scarce “Pensa. F.” circular territorial postmark dated “Jan. 16 [1836.]” As Ruschenberger notes in the letter, “Mail is dispatched from… Read more