Developed & Supported by Mark Scheuer. Based on the work of Thomas J. Alexander. Dedicated to the memory of Creighton Hart and Susan McDonald. Feedback, additions, and corrections most welcome. Please send to: mscheue1@rochester.rr.com
√ Click here for the census user’s guide as a PDF
Skip to main content
| Scott Number | 1 |
|---|---|
| Date | January 27, 18xx |
| From City | Vidalia |
| From State | LA |
| To City | Harrisonburg |
| To State | LA |
| Addressee | J. G. Taliaferro |
| Cert Author | |
| Cert # | |
| Fake | |
| Quantity 1 | 2 |
| Quantity 2 | 0 |
| Bisect | |
| Others |
Notes
Lot 2173 5c Red Brown (1). Horizontal pair, wide break in left frameline of right stamp, full to large margins, faint diagonal creases at lower left and right corners, tied by criss-crossed pen lines, red "Vidalia La. Jan. 27" circular datestamp with day in ms. on brown legal-size cover to Harrisonburg La., minor edge wear and wrinkles, otherwise Fine E. 400-500
Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries, Inc. sale 966 realized 250 (image)
Alexander listed as 1/27/xx
Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries Inc. sale 471 lot 420 realized 270
Robert A. Siegel sale 1011 lot 1385 realized 700 with another 1847 Scott #1 cover
Letter to James Govan Taliaferro (1798-1876), a lawyer, a local judge, and the owner/editor of the Harrisonburg Independent newspaper.
Truman Phelps (1806–1892) was a prominent attorney, local official, and state politician who was a contemporary and close professional associate of James Govan Taliaferro in Harrisonburg, Catahoula Parish, Louisiana. They were not partners in a law firm but they may have been co-councils on the case referred to on the letter, Bank of Pennsylvania vs. James S. Johnston.
The case was a high-stakes financial lawsuit brought by the Bank of Pennsylvania (acting as a major out-of-state creditor) against James S. Johnston, a wealthy plantation owner and prominent resident of Catahoula Parish, Louisiana.
Taliaferro was the presiding Judge of the 11th Judicial District Court in Harrisonburg during the era this litigation was unfolding. He was the official responsible for hearing the arguments, issuing the judgments, and signing the execution orders allowing the bank to collect against Johnston. However, the lack of any honorific in the address points to 1848, 49 or 50 as the year of mailing since Taliaferro left the bench in late 1847 and resumed practicing the law.
Phelps was a prominent practicing attorney in Harrisonburg at this exact time. In massive debt cases involving out-of-state banks, local attorneys like Phelps were hired either to represent the bank's interests locally as a collection attorney or to defend local planters like Johnston from losing their estates.
At that time, court cases resumed in February following Christmas and New Year's recess. The papers contained in this letter were probably important for the upcoming trial or a pre-trial motion. Also, Vidalia would be a port of entry for vessels moving up the Mississippi River from New Orleans, especially for someone representing a northern Bank.
Finally, the initials "n. s." above Bank of Pennsylvania refer to "new style," indicating the Bank had undergone financial restructuring, which the original Bank of Pennsylvania underwent following the economic downturn of the 1840s.
The trial lasted several years and cannot be pinpointed to either 1849 or 1850, which are both more likely than 1848. The final transfer of the Johnston land assets occurred in May, 1850.
Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries, Inc. sale 966 realized 250 (image)
Alexander listed as 1/27/xx
Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries Inc. sale 471 lot 420 realized 270
Robert A. Siegel sale 1011 lot 1385 realized 700 with another 1847 Scott #1 cover
Letter to James Govan Taliaferro (1798-1876), a lawyer, a local judge, and the owner/editor of the Harrisonburg Independent newspaper.
Truman Phelps (1806–1892) was a prominent attorney, local official, and state politician who was a contemporary and close professional associate of James Govan Taliaferro in Harrisonburg, Catahoula Parish, Louisiana. They were not partners in a law firm but they may have been co-councils on the case referred to on the letter, Bank of Pennsylvania vs. James S. Johnston.
The case was a high-stakes financial lawsuit brought by the Bank of Pennsylvania (acting as a major out-of-state creditor) against James S. Johnston, a wealthy plantation owner and prominent resident of Catahoula Parish, Louisiana.
Taliaferro was the presiding Judge of the 11th Judicial District Court in Harrisonburg during the era this litigation was unfolding. He was the official responsible for hearing the arguments, issuing the judgments, and signing the execution orders allowing the bank to collect against Johnston. However, the lack of any honorific in the address points to 1848, 49 or 50 as the year of mailing since Taliaferro left the bench in late 1847 and resumed practicing the law.
Phelps was a prominent practicing attorney in Harrisonburg at this exact time. In massive debt cases involving out-of-state banks, local attorneys like Phelps were hired either to represent the bank's interests locally as a collection attorney or to defend local planters like Johnston from losing their estates.
At that time, court cases resumed in February following Christmas and New Year's recess. The papers contained in this letter were probably important for the upcoming trial or a pre-trial motion. Also, Vidalia would be a port of entry for vessels moving up the Mississippi River from New Orleans, especially for someone representing a northern Bank.
Finally, the initials "n. s." above Bank of Pennsylvania refer to "new style," indicating the Bank had undergone financial restructuring, which the original Bank of Pennsylvania underwent following the economic downturn of the 1840s.
The trial lasted several years and cannot be pinpointed to either 1849 or 1850, which are both more likely than 1848. The final transfer of the Johnston land assets occurred in May, 1850.
