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1861 American Letter Express Co. handbill

TENNESSEE - American Letter Express Co. Important! To the People of the Confederate States. The American Letter Express Co. (Chartered by an act of the Tennessee Legislature) Transmits Letters and Printed Matter to and from all points North and South.

[N.p. but Nashville?: c. June-August 1861]. 1 p., small circular or handbill on pink paper (130 x 74 mm). Contemporary inscription on verso, "This is the way Strickland & Co. carries on their correspondants with their secesh friends and accounts for their knowledge of the movements of our forces in the field." Condition: some soiling and creases. an extraordinary survival: advertising ephemera from the short-lived express company mail service through nashville. The circular continues with explicit directions on how mail could go North through the lines: "Enclose and direct each letter to your correspondent as usual; put that letter in another envelope and direct on this outside envelope to American Letter Express Co. Nashville, Tenn. Enclosing 15 cents in money; this prepays all expenses to its destination ... Do not use U.S. stamps or stamped envelopes - they are valueless when coming from the Confederate States ..." Following Sumter, the Confederacy began planning their own postal system, but did not begin to assume responsibility for the mails until 1 June 1861. However, even at that point there were little provisions on how to move mail across the lines. Several express companies filled that need immediately, including the Adams Express Company, the Southern Express Company and, as evidenced here, the American Letter Express Company. Based in Nashville, the American Letter Express Co. was a popular choice to successfully send letters north, due to Tennessee's late seccession vote (8 June 1861) and Nashville's proximity to Unionist Kentucky. However, by the end of August 1861, U.S. Postmaster General Montgomery Blair banned the practice, no doubt for the same reasons as those inscribed on the back of this circular by an obviously Northern man: the ease of transmitting military information across the lines. In that inscription, the man referred to is likely Nimrod Strickland - a pro-slavery Democrat newspaper editor in West Chester, PA. Covers from this short time period with Express Company stamps are rare and desirable. Advertising ephemera from those same companies is virtually unheard of.