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1848 Courtship Love Letter – Abbie Maynard & Stillman S. Knapp – Plus Three Additional 19th-Century Covers
An intriguing group of four pieces of early American correspondence associated withAbbie S. (Maynard) Knapp of Ashburnham, Massachusetts, including an original handwritten courtship letter dated May 21, 1848.
Genealogical research on Ancestry.com indicates that Abbie Maynard and the letter\'s author, Stillman S. Knapp, were married on July 2, 1848, just six weeks after the examined letter was written.
The Featured Letter – May 21, 1848
Written at Waltham, Massachusetts, by Stillman S. Knapp, this affectionate letter describes his health, local happenings, spring weather, plans to visit Abbie, and some amusing gossip involving ladies at the railroad depot.
The writer closes with an especially romantic sentiment:
\"I want to see you so I cant keep still but with three good kisses & say sweet good knight\"
He signs himself:
\"Yours forever, Stillman S. Knapp.\"
The letter is written on a large sheet of paper measuring approximately 396 × 245 mm, folded to approximately 126 × 73 mm for mailing.
The address panel bears red WALTHAM, MASS., PAID, and 5 postal markings. The faint datestamp appears to read May 23. The letter itself establishes the year as 1848.
Three Additional Covers Included
Also included are three additional 19th-century covers addressed to Abbie:
These feature:
An orange-toned cover with an ASHBURNHAM, MASS., MAY 29 circular datestamp and PAID marking.
A stampless folded cover with red postal markings, including a five-cent rate.
A folded cover with a red LEOMINSTER, MS., FEB 15 circular datestamp and PAID marking.
The three additional pieces are offered as found and unexamined for correspondence. Their contents, if any, have not been inventoried or transcribed, and await the examination of the successful buyer. No particular contents are guaranteed.
Together, these four pieces present an opportunity to explore the correspondence and social connections of a Massachusetts woman whose eventual marriage to the author of the featured love letter has been identified through genealogical research.
Condition
Intact original 19th-century material free of obvious damage beyond the usual age-related toning, handling wear, and minor staining. Please examine the photographs for the condition and postal markings of each piece.
An appealing group for collectors of stampless postal history, early American love letters, Massachusetts genealogy, and 19th-century social history.
From the collection of Dr. Allan C. \"Doc\" Johnson (1889-1941) of Clinton, Massachusetts, an active stamp collector during the early 20th century. Doc\'s collection has remained with his family for more than eight decades.
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