A Collector's Guide to 1898 Documentary Printed Precancels: Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Uses

The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway, later to become the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific, and to be generally known as The Milwaukee Road, had mainlines that ran parallel to the Northern Pacific Railroad and the Great Northern Railroad, though it did so at first by way of Milwaukee after leaving the Chicago.  The railroad also ran lines west from Chicago into Iowa, Missouri and Nebraska.  Depots along their routes can be found on the stamps and documents below.

Jackson Junction, Iowa handstamp

 

Davenport, Iowa handstamp

Milwaukee Station handstamp

Union Pacific Railroad, Omaha, Nebraska handstamp

Livestock bill of lading with one cent hyphen-hole

Bill of lading for bulk shelled corn from McFarlin Grain Company in Madrid, Iowa to Allen Moore in Chillicothe, Missouri, with one cent hyphen-hole

Bill of lading from Milwaukee to what appears to be H. W. Martin of Eureka, Wisconsin

Bill of lading for bulk wheat from Victoria Elevator Co. in Aberdeen, South Dakota to Victoria Elevator Co. in Minneapolis

A Collector's Guide to 1898 Documentary Printed Precancels: The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway

The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway kept it basic.  The railroad did not have subsidiary railroads that functioned as a part of its wider system, producing only its own printed precancels on three different values of the documentary battleship set including the one, two, and ten cent stamps, resulting in five collectible types:

C. M. & St. P. Ry. on one cent roulette

The one cent roulette precancel is significantly scarcer than the hyphen-hole version.

 

C. M. & St. P. Ry. on one cent hyphen-hole

C. M. & St. P. Ry. on two cent roulette

C. M. & St. P. Ry. on two cent hyphen-hole

C. M. & St. P. Ry. on ten cent-hyphen hole

The ten cent C. M. & St. P. Ry.  precancel is one of the rarest railroad precancels.

A Collector's Guide to 1898 Documentary Printed Precancels: The Kansas City, Fort Scott & Memphis Railway, aka "The Memphis Route:

The Kansas City, Fort Scott & Memphis Railway used its brand name, the "Memphis Route" as a precancel, and it may be found as a single type on the hyphen-hole versions of the one and two cent battleship stamps.  There are no known Memphis Route precancels on roulette versions of these stamps.  The one cent stamp is fairly scarce; the two cent version is quite rare.  I have not found one of these on a bill of lading or a check.

"Memphis Route" precancel on the one cent battleship hyphen-hole stamp

"Memphis Route" precancel on the two cent battleship hyphen-hole stamp

this stamp has "Tolman" written in pencil on the back.  

A Collector's Guide to 1898 Documentary Printed Precancels: The Gould's Cotton Belt Route Part 3, The Tyler Southeastern Railway Company

One of the rarest of the 1898 documentary precancels, there is only one type known and it is only known on the roulette version of the one cent battleship stamp.

T. S. E. RY. CO., one cent battleship roulette

On October 6, 1899, the Tyler Southeastern Railway was fully aborbed into the St. Louis, Southwestern Railway of Texas, and ceased to exist as an independent railroad.  While there is the possibility of discovery of another example of the TSE Ry precancel on the roulette battleship, a hyphen-hole version is unlikely to exist, as the BEP began using hyphen-hole perforations exclusively by late 1899..

The 1900 Annual Report of the Cotton Belt Route included a letter from Edwin Gould, the President of the company that provided a few details of the buyout of the TSE Ry by the St. Louis Southwestern Railway of Texas:

 

The August, 2024 issue of The American Philatelist includes an article on this stamp:

A Collector's Guide to 1898 Documentary Printed Precancels: The Gould's Cotton Belt Route Part 2, The St. Louis, Southwestern Railway of Texas

Like the non-Texas portion of the Cotton Belt Route, the precancels of the St. Louis Southwestern Railway of Texas are also quite scarce.  Unlike the non-Texas version of the railroad, this version provides evidence of other collectible precancels, including red and black cancels, and a precanceled two cent stamp.

ST. L. S. W. RY. CO. OF TEX. red precancel on one cent battleship roulette

ST. L. S. W. RY. CO. OF TEX. black precancel on one cent battleship roulette

ST. L. S. W. RY. CO. OF TEX. red precancel on one cent battleship hyphen-hole

ST. L. S. W. RY. CO. OF TEX. black precancel on two cent battleship hyphen-hole

A Collector's Guide to 1898 Documentary Printed Precancels: The Gould's Cotton Belt Route Part 1, The St. Louis, Southwestern Railway Company

The St. Louis, Southwestern Railway Company apparently produced a limited number of types of printed precancels; according to Fullerton there was only one type, to be found on both the roulette and hyphen-hole one cent battleships.  No two cent precancels are known.  However, there now is a known St. Louis, Southwestern Railway of Texas two cent precancel; there is the possibility for cancel discovery with this railway.  These precancels are quite scarce.

ST. L. S. W. RY. CO. roulette.

ST. L. S. W. RY. CO. hyphen-hole.

bill of lading use of the hyphen-hole precancel.

A Collector's Guide to 1898 Documentary Printed Precancels: The Gould's Kansas City & Northwestern Railroad

The KCNWRR is only known for printed precancels on the hyphen-hole version of the one cent battleship.  Examples are quite rare for the hyphen-hole stamps; there may be the possibility for discovery of roulette copies.

One cent battleship hyphen-hole with THE K.C.N.W.R.R.CO. printed precancel

International & Great Northern Railroad Printed Precancel Uses

The International & Great Northern ran entirely within Texas, and their stamp with printed cancels may be found with cancelations from stations and depots across the state.

I&GNRR Austin, Texas Handstamp

San Antonio, Texas, Handstamp

I. & G. N. R. R. CO. Handstamp

Tyler Station Handstamp

Galveston, Texas Handstamp, document fragment from Focke, Wilkens & Lange bill of lading (see a full BOL below)

Printed precancel invert with Houston handstamp

Bill of lading for oysters, salmon, and something that looks like a packet of rice, which I assume is a 100lb bag or sack.

I&GNRR draft with precanceled two cent battleship stamp to pay the check tax.  Funds were drawn from the accounts of the Michigan Central Railroad.

International & Great Northern Unused Multiple Remainders

It seems that more unused copies of I&GNRR precanceled stamps are available to collectors today than from any company, railroad or otherwise.  It is likely that most examples are from remainders, perhaps preserved by a philatelist or someone acting as an agent for a dealer.  I have seen dozens of blocks of four of the hyphen-hole one cent battleship, and several blocks of four of the two cent hyphen-hole.  Several years ago a large sheet of the one cent hyphen-hole was sold at an Eric Jackson auction.  I do not recall how many stamps were in that sheet.  There is also at least one invert block of four, also hyphen-hole, and like the others, with gum.   Joyce's stockbook was loaded with multiples of the precanceled one cent stamp.

One cent battlship hyphen-hole block of four

Two cent battleship hyphen-hole block of four

 

A Collector's Guide to Documentary Printed Precancels: The Gould's International & Great Northern Railroad

The collectible types of International & Great Northern Railroad are many, as the road was known to have printed cancels on five different 1898 revenue stamp values.  There is no punctuation in their cancels, limiting varieties associated with punctuation differences on the plates.  

A collector might also collect both unused and used versions of the I&GNRR printed cancels, as there are many "unused" examples of the already precanceled stamps.  Like the first hyphen-hole stamp  below, they usually have their gum and are always absent other forms of cancels.

One cent battleship roulette, likely used on a bill of lading

One cent battleship hyphen-hole, never used and with OG

One cent battleship hyphen-hole invert, never used and with OG

Two cent battleship roulette, likely used on an I&GNRR Draft or Check

Two cent battleship hyphen-hole, never used with OG

Five cent battleship hyphen-hole, hever used with OG.  I have never seen a copy of the five cent stamp that shows the signs of having been legitimately used.  There is also no tax basis for railroads to have used the five cent stamp.  Could this cancel have been philatelically inspired?

Ten cent battleship roulette.  Likley used on an international bill of lading.

One cent R154

Richard Fullerton was a member of the Precancel Stamp Society, and there are signs in his 1952 list that he thought as much as a precancel collector as a revenue collector.  As such, he included in his list a one cent battleship handstamp precancel, shown below.  He did not include a two cent version of the cancel, but it also exists and is shown below.  Again, I've not seen used versions of these precancels (with dates, towns or other marks).  

One cent battleship handstamp precancel

Two cent battleship handstamp precancel

The Gould's St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railway: Printed Precancel Uses

The St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern ran mainlines south, east and southeast of St. Louis.  One line ran roughly south from St. Louis through Missouri to the Arkansas border and then southwest through Arkansas, with a notable spur that went east to Memphis, Tennessee.  Another ran between southern Kansas, into Indian Territory (what is now Oklahoma), and into Arkansas from the southeast St.L.I.M.&S. mainline near Little Rock.  Depot and station cancels and bills of lading can be found along these routes.  Below are precanceled examples from Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee and Indian Territory.

ST.L.I.M.&S.RY.

AUG

28

1898

MEMPHIS, TENN.

ST.L.I.M.&S.RY.

AUG

29

1899

JACKSON, MO.

ST.L.I.M.&S.RY.

MAR

8

1900

PINE BLUFF, ARK.

St. Louis handstamp made at Cupples Station in St. Louis:

ST. L. I. M. & S. Ry.

CUPPLES STA.

1898 bill of lading with a roulette precanceled stamp.  Consignor was the George A. Adams Grain Company, moving what appears to be 45,000 lbs of grain from Nowata, Indian Territory, up to Coffeyville, Kansas.  

1900 bill of lading with a hyphen-hole precanceled stamp and a Dexter, Missouri St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern handstamp.  Consignor was the Reuter Hub & Spoke Company shipping wheels and parts to Fairfield, Iowa, requiring transshipment on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy.