Cancel for March 1: Samuel D. Luckenbach

Sam'l D. Luckenbach,

MAR   1   1899

So. Bethlehem, Pn.

The Luckenbachs are easy to trace in Bethlehem PA more than 100 years before this stamp was cancelled.  But what business Samuel D. Luckenbach was in by 1899 I cannot yet determine.

Cancel for February 28: Edward Quackenbush

QUACKENBUSH

FEB 28 1899

PORTLAND, ORE.

E. QUACKENBUSH

FEB 28 1899

PORTLAND, ORE.

The handstamps on the 10 and 4 cent stamps differ.  See the last letters in the name Quackenbush.  These stamps were likely used on equity transactions of some kind.

Edward Quackenbush

Edward Quackenbush would become a successful financier and community leader in Portland, but in his youth he lived an exciting and varied life.  He was a pitcher at 27 for the Portland Pioneer Baseball Club.  Before then he arrived in Portland as a well-educated New Yorker, who studied political history, composition, philosophy, English, and advanced math before dropping out of school at 15. He moved to Iowa and campaigned for Lincoln, tried to enlist in the Union army at 21 but was denied due to a heart condition, then settled out west, working at various times as a cowboy, cashier, and bookkeeper. He arrived in Portland in 1865, got a job as a bookkeeper, worked in the hardwood lumber business, became president of the Y.M.C.A., and helped establish Portland’s first telephone company, the Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company.

 

Cancel for February 27: International and Great Northern Railroad

Printed Cancel:

I  &  G  N  R  R

Handstamp Cancel:

I.  &  G.  N.  R.  R.  CO.

FEB

27

1900

Many railroads used printed cancels on the 1 cent battleship documentary for their use on waybills.  Far fewer used them on the 2 cent documentary.  The International & Great Northern Railroad was a railroad that primarily operated in the U.S. state of Texas.  The I&GN, like other railroads of its time, had many financial troubles and went into receivership on several occasions. Jay Gould acquired control of the I&GN in December, 1880, but was forced to sell it in the early 1920s. Finally, on March 1, 1956, the I&GN was bought by the Missouri Pacific Railroad Company and became a major part of its network.

 

I&GNRR Map

Cancel for February 23: United States Mortgage and Trust

United States

FEB 23 1900

Mortgate & Trust Co.

From the book "The Story of the Trust Companies, by Edward Ten Broeck Perine:

The United States Mortgage Company, established in 1871, first undertook a trust and deposit business in January 1893.  Among the names of the incorporators are found those of J. Pierpoint Morgan, Abiel A. Low, Charles G. Landon, David Dows, and other men who were large factors in the financial and business life of the city, state, and nation.  In common with the Guaranty Trust Company, its expansion was promoted by Mutual Life interests.  After two years of operations under the old title its name was altered in 1895 to United States Mortgage and Trust Company.  The "Mortgage Company" as it has been familiarly known, has continued to carry a large line of conservative real-estate loans, place mostly in the larger cities of the West and South.

Cancel for February 16: R. P. Fish

R.  P.  FISH

FEB 16 1899

CHICAGO

R. P. Fish was once the Treasurer of the Chicago Baptist Social Union.  Don't know anything else about this guy or this cancel.

Cancel for February 15: Raritan Woolen Mills

RARITAN WOOLEN MILLS,

FEB

15

1899

RARITAN, N.J.

The old Raritan Woolen Mill that no longer exists. The mill, at one time in Raritan, Somerset County New Jersey...

The Spanish American War: February 15, 1898 - Battleship Maine Explodes and Sinks in Havana Harbour

The 1898 series of US revenue stamps entered use on July 1, 1898 after passage of the tax act a few weeks earlier.  But a major cause of the war, the destruction of the Battleship Maine, happened months earlier on February 15, setting in motion a growing war cry across the United States.

Wreck of the Battleship Maine

On February 15, 1898, the key event that set in motion the Spanish American war took place in Havana Harbour.   The sudden explosion of the Maine killed 260 American sailors and officers and sank the battleship.  The destruction of the Maine created an uproar in America, which, influenced by newspaper publicher William Randolph Hearst, immediately held Spain responsible.  Hearst's New York Journal published a story with the headline, "The Warship Maine Was Split In Two By An Enemy's Secret Infernal Machine!''

Cancel for February 13: Albert Loeb & Company

ALBERT LOEB & CO.

FEB

13

1901

N.  Y.

Albert Loeb and Company was a banking firm located in New York.  Albert Loeb died about two years after the cancellation of this stamp at 42 years; the New York Times reported the cause of death as apoplexy. 

Cancel for February 13: The Malone Stone Company

THE MALONE STONE CO.

FEB

13

1899

CLEVELAND, O.

The Malone Stone Company was sandstone company located in Ohio. 

Cancel for February 11: H. J. Bowell

H.J. BOWELL,

FEB

11

1899

MERRILL, WIS.

Cancel for February 10: John F. Brigg & Sons

JOHN F. BRIGG & SONS,

FEB

10

1900

xxx

John F. Brigg & Sons was a dealer in woolen goods and was located at 43 East 19th St. in New York. 

Cancel for February 8: Wheeling and Lake Erie Railroad

THE WHEELING AND LAKE ERIE R.R. CO.

FEB

8

1901

Cancel for February 5: Logan and Bryan

LOGAN  &  BRYAN

FEB  -  5  1902

Logan & Bryan was famous as a "private wire" brokerage house.  With major offices in both New York and Chicago, the brokerage maintained its own private telegraph line between the two cities to enable it to conduct its business.  While I am no expert in this era of economic history, I would expect that the information and service advantages from such a line were enormous, permitting at a minimum fast customer service but also creating incredible arbitrage opportunities.

Cancel for February 4: The Lorain Steel Company

THE LORAIN STEEL COMPANY

FEB

4

1901

Cancel for February 3: Cornplanter Refining Company

CORNPLANTER

FEB

3

1900

REFINING CO.

While "Cornplanter" is obscured in this cancel from February 3 1900, it is clearer in the example below:

Cornplanter Refining was a crude oil refining company in competition with Standard Oil among others at the turn of the century.  It was based in Warren, Pennsylvania.