Civil War post office scroll, 1862-1864
Contributed by an individual through North Yarmouth Historical Society
Item 9353
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Post office clerks began collecting strong red, white, and blue string, rolling it onto a ball and passing it on to the next post office to express their support for the Union effort in the Civil War. Accompanying the ball was this paper scroll on which the clerks wrote messages and sometimes drew images.
The Patriotic Ball no longer exists.
Jack Bachelder, a clerk in the Utica, N.Y., post office, began the ball and scroll on April 17, 1862. The scroll contains 66 post office handstamps or manuscript signatures, 53 from Maine. It is 3 1/2 inches wide and 37 feet long.
The scroll was sent from Utica to Bangor by rail and out from there by stage. It was torn off at Rockport.
Transcription
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Other Information
- Title: Civil War post office scroll, 1862-1864
- Creation Date: 1862 - 1865
- Subject Date: 1862 - 1865
- Town: Amity, Aroostook, Bangor, Bath, Belfast, Biddeford, Brunswick, Calais, Camden, Castle Hill, Columbia, Dennysville, Dexter, Dover, East Machias, Eastport, Ellsworth, Fort Fairfield, Foxcroft, Fremont, Gardiner, Hallowell, Hodgdon, Hudson, Jackson Brook, Lee, Lincoln, Littleton, Machias, Masardis, Milltown, Monticello, Narraguagus, North Carmel, North Houlton, North Perry, Patten, Pembroke, Perry, Portland, Presque Isle, Princeton, Red Beach, Robbinston, Rockport, Saco, Skowhegan, South Berwick, South Levant, Springfield, Topsfield, Waterville, Weston
- County: Aroostook, Cumberland, Hancock, Kennebec, Knox, Penobscot, Piscataquis, Sagadahoc, Somerset, Waldo, Washington, York
- State: ME
- Media: paper, pencil, ink
- Dimensions (cm): 1128 x 9
- Collection: Private
- Object Type: Text and Image
For more information about this item, contact:
North Yarmouth Historical Society
10 Village Square Road , North Yarmouth, ME 04097
(207) 772-1568
Cross Reference Searches
LC Subject Headings
Post offices--New Hampshire
Post offices--Maine
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Social aspects
Post office employees
Post offices--New York
Patriotism
Scrolls (Visual works)
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