R155 & Tobacco Company Cancels: N. R. Bowman & Company of Lynchburg, Virginia

N. R. BOWMAN

JUL 23 1898

& COMPANY

As of 2024, N. R. Bowman & Company does not have much of a trail on the internet, especially regarding the business of the firm and any sort of collateral material that might accompany this post.  However, the company is reported to have experienced prosperity in the tobacco business, and Mr. Bowman himself was president of the Lynchburg City Council and on the board of a leading town bank. 

R155 & Pharmaceutical Company Cancels: Gilpin, Langdon & Company

GILPIN, LANGDON & CO.

DEC

16

1898

BALTIMORE.

from The College of Pharmacy Catalog, 1891

R155 & Industrial Company Cancels: Standard Paint Company of New York

THE STANDARD PAINT CO

JUL

18

1898

N. Y.

 

from The Official Railway Equipment Guide, June 1893

C. Bishop Grain Company

 

C. BISHOP GRAIN CO.

1898

15

NOV

Buchanan, Mich.

The C. Bishop Grain Company had a banner year in 1898, as reported by their hometown newspaper, the Buchanan Record in Buchanan, Michigan.  

Buchanan Record, June 16, 1898

New Find: R155 with St. Louis, Keokuk, and Northwestern Railroad Printed Cancel

Mike Morrissey has sent a scan of a Fullerton unlisted railroad item: an R155 with a St. Louis, Keokuk & Northwestern Railroad cancel. 

ST. L., K. & N. W.

R. R.

St. L., K. & N. W. R. R. cancels have only previously been known on R163s, both roulette and H. H.  Frank Sente figures the stamps were used on checks.  I would guess this likely, but if so, where are other examples, either on or off document?

If you know or possess an example of this cancel on an R155, please report it or send a scan of the stamp to:  1898revenues@gmail.com.  Thanks!

July 1, 1898, First Day of the Tax Period

Farm. & Mec. Nat. Bk

JUL     1     1898

Georgetown,  D. C.

Langlois scan

Check of the Farmers & Mechanics National Bank of Georgetown, District of Columbia from Joseph B. Bailey dated July 1, 1898, the first day of the Spanish-American War tax period. 

Completed in 1922 in the heart of Georgetown at the corner of M Street and Wisconsin Avenue, this neoclassical building was once the home of the Farmers & Mechanics National Bank.  It became a branch of the Riggs Bank for years, and is now a branch for PNC Bank. 

*****

The user of this check, Joseph B. Bailey, was a dry goods merchant in Washington.  ArlingtonCemetary.net provides a few details about Mr. Bailey:

"Joseph B. Bailey was born in 1848 at Heathsville,Northumberland County,Virginia. He entered service at Richmond on November 23,1864 and served under Captain William Dement, Company D, 1st Maryland, Light Artillery. In the Battle of Dutch Gap and Drewry's Bluff on the James River, he was taken prisoner of war. Paroled at Appomattox on April 9,1865 and Oath of Armesty taken May 29th,1865.  After the war, he was a dry goods merchant in Washington, D.C. and the father of Ralph B.Bailey. Lived at 413 6th Street,Washington, D.C. SW and was a Member of Camp# 171,Confederate Veterans.

R155 Shifted I.R.

Shifted I. R.

Sent in by David Thompson.  Not much to say except that such pronounced shifts are not very common.

Valvoline

Advertisement for Valvoline from the 1916 Proceedings of the Annual Cotton Manufacturers Assocation showing "VALVOLINE OIL CO. successor to Leanard & Ellis"

David Thompson identified and sent in this copy of R155 with a neat bullseye by Leonard & Ellis:

LEONARD & ELLIS.

1898

NEW YORK.

*******

One of the largest producers of motor oil in the United States, Valvoline was founded by Dr. John Ellis.  Ellis formulated a petroleum-based lubricant in 1866 and trademarked the Valvoline name in 1873 in Binghamton, NY.

Valvoline's modern logo:

R155 SOTNs: The Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railway

David Thompson sent this scan of a railroad cancel bullseye on a R155 type 2:

C. H. & D. Ry

AUG

8

1898

The Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railway was originally featured on this site in November 2009.  David now complements that post with this stamp and cancel.

The CH&D's mainlines ran from Cincinnati into Hamilton, and from Hamilton both west to Indianapolis and north to Dayton and on to Toledo.  The CH&D ran through Sidney, Ohio, the home of Linn's and the current home of Scott Publishing and the Scott Catalog.

The 1901 Poor's Manual provides this data on the state of the CH&D Railway in 1900:

R155s with Check Value Die Cuts

$25, $3, and $5 check value die cuts on copies of R155

A collector and reader in Israel sent in this scan of several R155s with apparent cut cancels.  These die cut dollar value "cancels" were almost certainly made by a machine that punched a check with corresponding dollar value of the check; presumably this process was done to prevent check washing.

Bob H., am I right about the use of punching the value into the check?

Cancel for October 27: R. M. A.

R.  M.  A.

OCT   27   189X

ST.  LOUIS.

What was RMA in St. Louis?

Cancel for October 8: T. Bahnsen Piano Manufacturing Company

T. Bahnsen Piano Mfg. Co.

OCT

8

1898

ST. LOUIS.

These photos were found at a rag time sheet music collector's site. T. Bahnsen published some of Scott Joplin's original music.

Cancel for September 19: Great Northern Bank?

G. N. B'k

SEP

19

1898

In 1897, a bank was opened in Minot, North Dakota called the Great Northern Bank.  While I can't confirm this cancel was made by this bank, it is my best guess.  Anybody with an old check from this bank from July thru late 1898 on could help confirm my guess.

James J. Hill's Great Northern Railway passed through Minot;  the railroad founded and was largely responsible for the growth and building of the town. 

The Great Northern Bank of Minot would become the 2nd National Bank of Minot

Cancel for September 16: Baltimore & Ohio and Southwestern Railroad

B & O

S W RR

9/16/98

manuscript

The Baltimore and Ohio Southwestern Railroad operated in the States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky.  I do not regularly post manuscript cancels on this site because most off document examples are indecipherable and uninteresting.  But this one is very clear.

The Baltimore, Ohio and Southwestern Railroad ceased to exist as a separate entity in 1900 and was absorbed into the parent Baltimore & Ohio.

Cowen was President of the B&O at the time the B&O and SW was absorbed into the parent company.  John Cowen would pass away in 1904 at the home of his sister in Chicago when he was 59 years old.

Cancel for July 23: First National Savings Bank, Neligh, Nebraska

FIRST  NAT'L BANK

JUL

23

1898

NELIGH,  NEB.

Not long after the use of the stamp, the First National Bank would have the regulators close in:

From The New York Times, October 20, 1898:

Failure of a Bank at Neligh, Neb.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 19.--Bank Examiner Whitmore has telegraphed the Controller of the Currency that he has closed the doors of the First National Bank of Neligh, Neb.  He says the condition of the bank makes resumption impossible.  The bank's report on Sept. 20 was: Capital stock, $50,000; surplus, $3,037; due to depositors, $108,956; borrowed money, $10,000; circulation, $11,250.  Total resources, $183,243.

***

Neligh is a small town of about 1700 on the Elkhorn River in Nebraska and is the county seat of Antelope County.

Cancel for July 6: Enterprise National Bank

ENTERPRISE

JUL  6    18XX

NAT'L BANK

Enterprise National Bank was located in Allegheny, Pennsylvania at 1601 Beaver Avenue.  You won't find it there today.  The town of Allegheny was annexed by Pittsburgh in 1907.

The yellow part of the map delineates the old Allegheny City.

Auctions, Ebay Lot: R155 Cancelled July 1, 1898

The G. C. M.

July

1

1898

NEW YORK

This stamp just sold on Ebay today for $36.  A great cancel on the first day of use, July 1, 1898.

Yet Another R155 SOTN

H. F ' s, S,

The stamp on the left, dated August 3, appeared on this site back in January.  The initials are distinctive, with the apostrophe attached ot the second letter.  Then another R155 turned up with a similar cancel, this time applied in late August.  What does H. F's, S. stand for?  I'm looking for help.

More R155 SOTNs

The latest installment of a running series on R155s with socked-on-the-nose cancels.

M.  V.  T.  Co.

SEP   7  1898

CANCELED 

O. C. R. R.

OCT  1  1898

Old Colony Railroad

FIRST  NAT'L  BANK

JUL

23

1898

NELIGH,  NEB.

Another R155 Bullseye

THE FAR. & SHIP. L. TOB. WH. CO.

JUL

29

1898

CINCINNATI.O.

Dave Thompson sent in this cancel this morning that he found hiding behind another stamp in a recent Ebay lot he acquired.  I've been trying to figure out the meaning of this cancel, as I am certain he has been doing too, but with no luck so far. 

Can anybody help identify this company?

Editors note 6:00 PM Nairobi time:  Tim Kohler ID'd the L. TOB. WH. CO. portion as Leaf Tobacco Warehouse Company.  A quick search yielded Farmers and Shippers Leaf Tobacco Warehouse Company.