The seven envelopes below, addressed to Gov. Simon B. Buckner, were recently donated to the Capital City Museum. These are but some of the treasures housed in the museum.
A franked cover sent via the U. S. Post Office by an unknown member of the U.S. House of Representatives to Buckner. In 1890, Kentucky had 11 congressmen in the House of Representatives. To reach Buckner, the letter would have traveled via a mail sack carried on board a Chesapeake & Ohio Railway (C&O) train from Washington, D.C., to Frankfort.
This cover, mailed by the Corinth Deposit Bank of Corinth using an 1890 series red $0.02 George Washington stamp to pay postage, traveled by train from Corinth to Frankfort. The cover carries a Cincinnati & Chattanooga Rail Post Office cancellation dated June 3, 1891.
The envelope would thus have traveled over the Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railroad (Queen & Crescent Route) from Corinth to Georgetown. In Georgetown, the mail was placed on a Kentucky Midland Railroad (KMRR) train for forwarding to Frankfort. KMRR later became the Frankfort & Cincinnati Railroad.
This cover, which originated with Hull & Barclay of Pineville never entered the U.S. Post Office mail stream as it was hand delivered to Buckner’s office by The Honorable G. M. Adam. Mr. Adam would have reached Frankfort by taking a Louisville & Nashville Railroad (L&N) train from Pineville to Corbin.
At Corbin, he would have transferred to an L&N train bound for Winchester. At Winchester, he would have switched to a third L&N train for the final run to Frankfort.
One can assume that this cover carried a letter from Charles Y. Wilson, Commissioner of Agriculture, to Buckner. The letter was walked from the commissioner’s office in the Old Capitol Annex to the Governor’s Office in the Old Capitol.
This cover, with its 1890 series red $0.02 George Washington stamp, was mailed at Mount Sterling on Aug. 8, 1891. The envelope is addressed to Honorable S. B. Buckner, Frankfort, Kentucky, while the upper left corner of the envelope carries the return address of “W. S. Caldwell, The Leading Clothier, MT. Sterling, KY” written along the left side of the envelope is “In Courtesy of Squire Thompson.” This cover would have traveled by a C&O train from Mt. Sterling to Frankfort.
Thanks to the notation on the side of this cover, we know what was contained in this envelope. The cover, with its 1890 series red $0.02 George Washington stamp, was mailed on June 6, 1891, at Leitchfield, Kentucky, by H. C. Rogers Sr., Judge Grayson County Court, to Buckner in Frankfort.
The penciled note on the left edge reads, “Judge Rogers recommends H. T. Hopkins to fill vacancy.” Unfortunately, we do not know what office was vacant or if Buckner appointed H.T. Hopkins to fill it. This cover would have traveled by mail pouch on board an Illinois Central Railroad train from Leitchfield to Louisville and then by an L&N train to Frankfort.
Again, thanks this time to a pen notation on the left edge of this cover, we know what was contained in it. The cover, addressed to Governor Buckner, was mailed in Louisville on Aug. 6, 1891, by Bartley, Johnson & Company of 123 and 125 E. Main St. in Louisville using a 1887-1894 issue, green $0.02 printed George Washington stamp to pay postage. Thanks to the pen notation, we know that someone in the company was seeking to become a notary. This cover would have been carried by the L&N from Louisville to Frankfort.
