Envelope or Cover
1854 · Richmond, Virginia
by Harris & Gibson
Richmond, Virginia, 1854. Envelope or Cover. Very good. This two-page folded letter measures 15” x 9” unfolded. It was sent to Robert T. Hubbard at Caira (Ca Ira), Virginia via canal boat from Harris & Gibson (Hubbard’s agents) in Richmond. It bears a 3-cent Washington stamp (Scott #11a) canceled with a circular Richmond postmark. Docketing indicates it was carried by “Packet Boat 3” that departed Richmond on 24 March 1854, the same day it was postmarked. In nice shape.
The letter reports on details of Hubbard’s tobacco business (including sales to England) and his purchase of Richmond City Stock. It was carried on one of the six regular canal packet boats that transported passengers and cargo up the James River and Kanawha Canal until it reached the junction with the Willis River Canal where it turned to the south. . Ca Ira, located at the end of the Willis River Canal in Cumberland County, was, at the time of this letter, a thriving community complete with a large tobacco warehouse, several stores, about 40 homes, two taverns, a bank, a Masonic hall, and a church which was also used as meeting hall place for the town and surrounding plantations. Ca Ira thrived until the Civil War, but following the conflict, it rapidly declined. Today it is a ghost town and only the church and a few dwellings remain.
Hubbard was a prosperous tobacco planter who also owned plantations in Buckingham County. He attended Hampden-Sydney and the University of Virginia, and was married to Susan Pocahantas Bolling, a descendant of the John Rolfe-Pocahantas marriage.
Construction of the James River and Kanawha Canal began in 1785 but didn’t reach Lynchburg until 1840 and Buchanan until 1851. In its heyday, nearly 200 horse or mule-drawn boats could be found somewhere on the canal on any given day including eight regularly scheduled packet boats that also carried passengers and mail. The 50-mile-long Willis River Canal was built in the late 1790s as part of Thomas Jefferson’s vision improving travel and transportation into western Virginia.
(For more information, see “Exploring the Willis Creek Canal” at the Virginia State Parks website, “Boating on the James River & Kanawha Canal” at the Lynchburg Museum website, Historical Architectural Survey of Cumberland County, Virginia at the Virginia Department of Historical Resources website, “A Guide to the Hubbard Family Papers” at the University of Virginia Library, and “Robert Thruston Hubard” at ancestry.com.)
At the time of listing, nothing similar is for sale in the trade and the Rare Book Hub lists no similar items as have appeared at auction. OCLC shows that the Hubbard Family papers are held at the University of Virginia.
A scarce example of canal boat mail boat mail documenting the sale of tobacco that was grown west of Richmond and transported eastward by water. . (Inventory #: 010393)
The letter reports on details of Hubbard’s tobacco business (including sales to England) and his purchase of Richmond City Stock. It was carried on one of the six regular canal packet boats that transported passengers and cargo up the James River and Kanawha Canal until it reached the junction with the Willis River Canal where it turned to the south. . Ca Ira, located at the end of the Willis River Canal in Cumberland County, was, at the time of this letter, a thriving community complete with a large tobacco warehouse, several stores, about 40 homes, two taverns, a bank, a Masonic hall, and a church which was also used as meeting hall place for the town and surrounding plantations. Ca Ira thrived until the Civil War, but following the conflict, it rapidly declined. Today it is a ghost town and only the church and a few dwellings remain.
Hubbard was a prosperous tobacco planter who also owned plantations in Buckingham County. He attended Hampden-Sydney and the University of Virginia, and was married to Susan Pocahantas Bolling, a descendant of the John Rolfe-Pocahantas marriage.
Construction of the James River and Kanawha Canal began in 1785 but didn’t reach Lynchburg until 1840 and Buchanan until 1851. In its heyday, nearly 200 horse or mule-drawn boats could be found somewhere on the canal on any given day including eight regularly scheduled packet boats that also carried passengers and mail. The 50-mile-long Willis River Canal was built in the late 1790s as part of Thomas Jefferson’s vision improving travel and transportation into western Virginia.
(For more information, see “Exploring the Willis Creek Canal” at the Virginia State Parks website, “Boating on the James River & Kanawha Canal” at the Lynchburg Museum website, Historical Architectural Survey of Cumberland County, Virginia at the Virginia Department of Historical Resources website, “A Guide to the Hubbard Family Papers” at the University of Virginia Library, and “Robert Thruston Hubard” at ancestry.com.)
At the time of listing, nothing similar is for sale in the trade and the Rare Book Hub lists no similar items as have appeared at auction. OCLC shows that the Hubbard Family papers are held at the University of Virginia.
A scarce example of canal boat mail boat mail documenting the sale of tobacco that was grown west of Richmond and transported eastward by water. . (Inventory #: 010393)
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