MGJ Postal History

Letter between cashiers regarding items for collection. Excellent condition. Postmark light but full.

Important historic letter from Newport Kentucky (manuscript postmark and 37 1/2-cent rate) signed by James Taylor, Jr., founder of Newport, for his father, James Taylor. Letter is to Benjamin Brown, Mount Vernon Ohio attorney and is a brief note regarding the filing of a deed for Irwin Thompson. Letter is on heavy stock and easy to read. Two small holes where two wax seals were broken do not affect text or appeal of this item. Outstanding addition to any postal history stampless collection.

Benjamin S. Brown was eminent in his profession, and well known throughout the State. He was a member of the Mount Vernon Library Society.

James Taylor, Jr. (1769–1848) was an American banker, Quartermaster general, and one of the wealthiest early settlers of Kentucky. He was a founder of the city of Newport, Kentucky. Taylor was the fifth child born to James Taylor Sr. and Anne Hubbard Taylor in Midway, Virginia. His father, James Taylor Sr., bought 2,700 acres (11 km²) of land in Northern Kentucky from his friend George Muse, which was part of the land Muse had been awarded for his military service in the French and Indian War. The Taylor family had two cousins, James Madison and Zachary Taylor, who later become presidents of the United States. On April 1, 1792, just short of his 23rd birthday, James Taylor Jr. left his father's plantation for Kentucky accompanied by three slaves, Moses, Humphrey and Adam, along with an English Army deserter, Robert Christy, and Christy's wife and their three children. They reached Newport June 20 but couldn't find lodging so he stayed at Ft. Washington in Cincinnati. His enslaved men worked through the summer to clear 16 acres (65,000 m²) in fields along the Licking, plant two corn crops and build a small cabin on lot no. 6 at the southwest corner of Second Street and Central Avenue. He became the driving force behind the settlement's development. He laid out the first road to Lexington in August with Jacob and Edward Fowler. In 1794 James Taylor tapped his connections with Kentucky's leaders to lobby at Frankfort for acts incorporating Newport and creating Campbell County, Kentucky. The legislature established the county on December 17, 1794 from parts of Mason, Scott and Harrison Counties. On December 14, 1795 it approved Newport's charter. James Taylor Jr. and Keturah Moss Leitch were married on November 15, 1795. James and Keturah Taylor had 11 children, but only four survived to maturity.

In 1803, James Taylor Jr. solicited the help of his cousin, James Madison, who was then U.S. Secretary of State, to persuade the federal government to move the Ft. Washington military post from Cincinnati to Newport. The Newport Barracks replaced Fort Washington across the river in Cincinnati, Ohio. There were but 4 acres (16,000 m²) in the original tract, which was bought from the old Colonel Taylor estate for the minimal price if $1. In 1806, two additional acres were bought for $47. Taylor was hired as the superintendent of the construction of the barracks. He was to erect three buildings.

Gen. James Taylor Jr. was Quartermaster General and paymaster of the Northwestern Army during the War of 1812, thus Newport became a vital center for war supplies.

During a storied lifetime, James Taylor Jr. operated ferries across both the Ohio and Licking rivers, helped to found banks, invested in the mammoth Newport Manufacturing Co., operated saw and grist mills along the Licking River, was part owner of a salt-works at Grants Lick, Ky., ran a tanning business and in his spare time was known to collect fossils and hunt buffalo at Big Bone Lick in Boone County.

James Taylor Jr. and his wife were members of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Newport, on the Courthouse Square. He and his wife Keturah were laid to rest at the Taylor Family Plot Evergreen Cemetery, Southgate, Ky. At his death, James Taylor Jr. was said to be one of the wealthiest men in the state of Kentucky, with an estate valued at more than $4 million.

In the mid-19th century, Newport became a hub for trade, industry and culture. Just a few years later, Gen. Taylor's grandson established the wealthy area of East Row, a collection of elegant homes. Today, the East Row local Historic District is the second largest local district in Kentucky and the Taylor Mansion is the district's oldest house. Taylor is the namesake of the General James Taylor Park.

Full but light postmark and large numeral five in red on this letter to Leavitt & McDaniel, Concord NH hardware company. The note is from R. Booth and he is placing a order of $23 for four saws.

This is a large lot of correspondence with envelopes and two postcards (one from France) primarily from John Tibbits to his father, C. E. Dudley Tibbits.  John became a minister in New Hampshire.  Lots of interesting reading.  Postmarks from New Hampshire, New York, Minnesota and France.  See image. Charles Edward Dudley Tibbits, was born at Hoosac, New York, August 18, 1834. He was educated under private tuition at Troy and Hoosac, and later took a course at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy. In 1851 he made his first visit to Europe, crossing the ocean in a sailing vessel. He saw at that time the first International Exhibition at the Crystal Palace in London. This was the first of many voyages. He was largely occupied with the care of his own and of family property. He was president of the Walter A. Wood Mowing & Reaping Machine Company, of Hoosick Falls, from 1892 to 1895, when he resigned, and for a number of years was a director of the company; he is also a director of the United National Bank of Troy. He is a trustee of the Troy Orphan Asylum, and was chairman of the committee which selected the plans for the asylum building on Spring avenue. He was president in 1879 of the Young Men's Association, and is a trustee of the Troy Public Library, which now carries on the work formerly done by that association. As trustee of the library, he chose the design from which the Memorial Library Building on Second street was erected. Mr. Tibbits was chairman of the committee of one hundred citizens who were charged with making arrangements for the public celebration of the one hundredth anniversary of the naming of the city of Troy, in January, 1889. Mr. Tibbits married, June 8, 1865, Mary Elizabeth, daughter of John Le Grand and Elizabeth (Sigourney) Knox. She died July 16, 1875. Children: Sarah Bleecker, born November 15, 1866. George, born February 22, 1868, died April 29, 1875. John Knox, born January 13, 1870; educated at St. Paul's School, Concord, New Hampshire; Yale College, B.A., class of 1892; Exeter College, Oxford, England; he is an Episcopal clergyman at Concord, New Hampshire. He married, April 12, 1910, at Montreal, Canada, Marguerite Vinton Harris, daughter of Arthur H. and Saidee (Lambe) Harris, of that city. Dudley, born October 4, 1874, died May 24, 1875.