It has long been passed along that Colonel Balfour’s widow, Elizabeth Dayton Balfour, served as the first postmistress of the United States. This page presents the extensive fruits of research into this question, by Shirley Walters Weissmann.
The Scranton Republican
Scranton, Pennsylvania • Wed, May 15, 1889 Page 7
WOMEN POSTMASTERS
SERVING AMERICA FOR OVER TWO CENTURIES
Colonial Times
Few people are aware that women have served as postmasters since the beginning of the United States Postal Service in 1775, a proud tradition of over 215 years.
Mary Kathleen Goddard, postmaster at Baltimore, Maryland, was the first (and only) woman postmaster at the time of the establishment of the Continental Post Office for the “United Colonies” on July 26, 1775. Miss Goddard also ran a bookshop in Baltimore and published a newspaper, The Maryland Journal and Baltimore Advertiser, that rivaled the nation’s best newspapers and was the only one in Baltimore from July 1779 to May 1783.
Her brother, William Goddard, also played an important role in the early development of the mail service in this century. It is believed that Miss Goddard’s original appointment as postmaster of Baltimore was made by her brother under his “Constitutional Post,” which provided mail service for the colonists for several months prior to the creation of the postal system under the Continental Congress. She later received a formal commission signed by Postmaster General Richard Bache on August 12, 1779.
Miss Goddard was removed from her position in November 1789, apparently for only political reasons, as no reasonable cause was given by Postmaster General Samuel Osgood. Some 230 citizens of Baltimore sent a petition to Osgood urging her reinstatement, but he refused on the grounds that he had the right to exercise his own judgment. Goddard also wrote to both President Washington and the United States Senate, but neither intervened on her behalf.
Prior to 1775, the British had also appointed women postmasters for their Royal postal system in the colonies, including a Mrs. Lydia Hall, who reportedly served for many years as postmaster at Salem, Massachusetts, before her death in 1768. In addition, Benjamin Franklin’s sister-in-law Elizabeth Hubbert Franklin, may have also served as postmaster of Boston, Massachusetts, for a short time following the death of her husband John Franklin in 1756. Although this claim, made by Carl Van Doran in his book, Benjamin Franklin, has not been verified by other records, it is possible that Elizabeth Franklin handled the duties temporarily before a new postmaster was appointed. John Franklin had been appointed postmaster of Boston by his brother Ben in 1754.
The only other woman postmaster known to have served before 1789 is Elizabeth Cres(s)well, who is shown in Post Office Department Ledger A as postmaster at Charlestown, Maryland, in 1786.
The first woman postmaster after the adoption of the Constitution in 1789, was Mrs. Sarah DeCrow, who was appointed at the Hertford, North Carolina, Post Office on September 27, 1792. She apparently attempted to resign her position on several occasions, because of the small compensation she received as postmaster. In a letter to her on November 29, 1794, Assistant Postmaster General Charles Burrall stated:
“I am sensible that the emolument of the office cannot be much inducement to you to keep it (the postmastership), nor to any Gentleman to accept of it, yet I flatter myself someone may be found willing to do the business, rather than the town and it’s neighbourhood should be deprived of the business of a Post Office.”
In 1795, Thomas McNider succeeded Sarah DeCrow as postmaster at Hertford.
On May 28, 1796, Postmaster General Joseph Habersham advised Postmaster Isaac Abbott, as follows:
“Your daughter may act as your assistant after the oath required by law.” In an entry in Letter Book F, dated August 1, 1798, Postmaster General Joseph Habersham states: “Appointed Mrs. Rebecca Morton at the office of Warwick, Maryland, in the room of John Morton.” She served until late 1801.
Nineteenth Century
During the nineteenth century, any doubts about whether women could serve effectively, especially at the larger post offices, were put to rest by the examples of several enterprising ladies.
For example, Mrs. Ann Moore was appointed to the post office of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on May 9, 1809. She was succeeded by another woman, Mrs. Mary Dickson, who was appointed on April 11, 1829, and served until 1850. Mrs. Ellen H. Hager was also postmaster later at Lancaster from 1872 until about 1876.
At the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Post Office, Mrs. Rose Wright was appointed postmaster on March 9, 1814, although there was apparently some controversy surrounding her appointment. In a letter of February 17, 1814,to N. B. Boileau, Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Postmaster General Gideon Granger stated that “My feelings would lead me to appoint Mrs. Wright in conformity to the wishes expressed in her recommendation, but the Post Office Law has been revised and altered since the appointment of Mrs. Moore [Ann Moore, Postmaster of Lancaster, 1809-1829] and a doubt has been suggested to me from a source I ought to respect as to the strict legality of appointing a female and on a careful examination of the law I incline to . . .believe that the doubt may be well founded.”
The Post Office Law referred to by Gideon Granger, passed in 1810, contains no specific provision prohibiting the appointment of women postmasters, and it is not known on what section(s) the Postmaster General based his opinion. It may be that because all pronoun substituted for “postmaster” in the Act are in the masculine case that this was construed to indicate that women should not be appointed postmasters.
Despite Granger’s doubt about appointing a woman postmaster, however, Mrs. Wright was chosen to head the Harrisburg Post Office less than a month after his above letter. She continued as postmaster for over eight years until 1822.
The second postmaster of the Southington, Hartford County, Connecticut, Post Office was Mrs. Rhoda Lewis, appointed on April 16, 1808. She was succeeded in the position by Chester Whittlesy, appointed on February 19, 1818. On March 3rd of that year, however Post Office General Return J. Meigs, Jr. addressed a letter to her as follows: “. . . [I] am pleased to find that you are ready to pay the balance due from you as it will enable me to continue you in office,” and his postscript added “Mr. Whittlesy will give up the office to you, provided payments are made as above, [as] he has no desire to take the office from you.” The appointment records, however do not indicate she was ever reinstated as postmaster.
On December 17, 1812, Mrs. Susannah Wylie (or Wiley) was appointed postmaster of the Georgetown Post Office in Washington, D. C. She served for over five years. Harriet H. Corcoran was appointed to the same office on December 18, 1834, and served until about June 1840.
The appointment of a new postmaster at Columbus, Ohio, in 1847, following the death of the incumbent, General Jacob Medary, brought out some apparent discrimination against female postmasters. Messrs. Allen and Medill of that city wrote to Postmaster General Cave Johnson, recommending that Medary’s widow be appointed to succeed her husband. In a letter dated April 2, 1847, however, the Postmaster General replied as follows:
. .[it] has not been the practice of the Department to appoint females . . .at the larger offices; the duties required of them are many and important and often of a character that ladies could not be expected to perform; the personal supervision of the duties within the offices; the receipt and dispatch of the mails at all times day or night; the constant watch necessary to be kept over the conduct of contractors and carriers and other agents of the department; the superintendence of mail service generally within the vicinity of the office; the pursuit and arrest of mail depredators; and prosecutions for violations of the post office laws; are duties that could not be dispensed with at such an office as Columbus without serious injury to the public service and could not with propriety be exacted of a lady. A strong appeal was made to this Department in behalf of the widow of the late Senator Linn of Missouri, for the appointment to the office at St. Louis; her appointment was urged by many leading members of Congress, of the Legislature of Missouri and many distinguished citizens in different Sections of the Union, yet, I felt myself constrained from a sense of duty to the public to advise the President against the appointment.
The Postmaster General’s views apparently prevailed, as Samuel Medary rather than the postmaster’s widow was appointed postmaster of Columbus on April 5, 1847.
Cave Johnson’s claim that a woman could not manage one of the larger post offices, however, does not appear consistent with the service of other women postmasters at the time.
When his above letter was written, for instance, Mary Dickson was postmaster of Lancaster, Pennsylvania (see above) and her salary of $1, 305.37 for the fiscal year 1847 was the fifth highest in the state behind the postmasters of Erie, Harrisburg, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
In addition, at the time of Johnson’s letter, Mrs. Ann Gentry had been postmaster of the Columbia, Missouri, Post Office for over nine years (her original appointment was on February 20, 1838). In 1849, her salary of $365.35 and the post office’s net revenues of $544.99 were among the fifth or sixth highest in the state of Missouri. In fact, the Columbia Post Office was headed by a woman postmaster from 1838 until 1876, except for a brief period from November 1865 to March 1867. Mrs. Gentry was replaced in 1865 by Paul Hubbard, appointed on November 1st. Mrs. Frances E. Lathrop was appointed on March 18, 1867, and served until about September 1876.
Finally, in 1847, Susan W. Thruston was also serving as postmaster of the Greenville, South Carolina, Post Office, which had one of the ten highest revenues in the state that year. Ms. Thruston was appointed postmaster on October 9, 1843, and served until about 1861.
Women postmasters continued to manage some of the larger post offices in the country in the latter half of the 1800s. Two women postmasters, for instance, ran the Louisville, Kentucky, Post Office continuously from 1869 to 1890. Mrs. Lucy M. Porter was the first female postmaster appointed there on December 22, 1869, and she was followed by Mrs. Virginia G. Thompson, who was appointed on October 31, 1877, and served until about July 1890.
In Springfield, Missouri, Mrs. Permlia C. Stevens was postmaster from 1867 to 1877. At Fort Worth, Texas, Mrs. Dorcas Williams was postmaster from 1866 to 1867; and Ida L. Turner from 1894 to 1901. In San Antonio, Texas, Mrs. Margaret E. Norris served as postmaster from 1876 to 1879. The fifth postmaster of the Birmingham, Alabama, Post Office, Alice Green, appointed in 1883, was also a woman. The Cheyenne, Wyoming, Post Office was managed by Mrs. Susan R. Johnson from 1880 to 1884. In Tennessee, Ann B. Cheatam was postmaster of Nashville from 1886 to 1888 and Anna D. H. Thompson was postmaster of Memphis from 1878 to 1882. The Huntsville, Alabama, Post Office was also headed by a woman, Mary L. Clay, who was appointed on March 26, 1887, and served until about June 1889. In Charlottesville, Virginia, Mrs. Mary H. Sumner Long was postmaster from 1877 to 1901; in Manassas, Virginia, Mrs. L. Adelia Pine served from 1873 to 1882, and Mildred H. Davies from 1893 to 1901. Annie B. Kenna was postmaster of Charleston, West Virginia, from 1893 to 1898.
Marshall Cushing, in his book, The Story of Our Post Office, published in 1893, gives brief biographical sketches of several women postmasters at that time, including:
Mrs. Mary E. P. Bogert, Postmaster at Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania (who “kept a general supervision of every department of the office, giving personal care to all details, stimulating each employee to give to his work the best that was in him . . .”);
Mrs. Mary H. Sumner Long, at Charlottesville, Virginia (“a lady of marked social and literary tastes and acquirements, as well as of great business capacity”);
Mrs. Lucy S. Miller, at Mariposa, California (before the “mail reaches Mariposa at five in the morning, summer and winter . . .Mrs. Winter is faithfully at her post”);
Mrs. Flora H. Hawes at Hot Springs, Arkansas, (“ a remarkable woman . . .[whose] family is among the most notable and influential in that state”); and
Mrs. E. A. S. Mixon, at Barnwell, South Carolina, (“one of the brightest {women postmasters} in the whole service”).
Cushing also cites a “recent computation” of 6,335 women postmasters, with the largest number in Pennsylvania (463) and Virginia (460), and comments that a “whole book could be written about the many admirable women [postmasters] who work away with all their tact and business prudence. .trying to please their patrons and the Department alike, and pleasing both because they try . . .Sometimes they are the most important persons in their towns.”
Twentieth Century
By the end of the nineteenth century, according to a report on the employment of women in the Postal Service, over 10 percent of the 70,000 post offices in the country were headed by women. The report also states that although postmasters at third- and fourth-class post offices chose their own employees without consulting the Department, there were “perhaps 80,000 women to whom the oath of office has been administered to qualify them to assist in conducting the business of the post offices.”
The 1906 Annual Report of the Postmaster General also indicates that there were 194 women assistant postmasters in first- and second-class post offices on June30, 1906.
In the early 1900s, Eva M. Marshall served as postmaster of Flagstaff, Arizona, from 1906 to 1914. The first postmaster of the Las Vegas, Nevada, Post Office was Helen J. Stewart, who served from 1893 to 1904. Mrs. Nellie B. Brimberry was also appointed to the Albany, Georgia, Post Office on December 16, 1909, and served until April 1933, except for a brief period from May 1923 to October 1924.
The first woman postmaster at Tampa, Florida, was appointed on January 26, 1923. In a press release announcing the appointment of Elizabeth D. Barnard at Tampa, the Post Office Department reported that “for the first time in the history of the Post Office Department a woman has been appointed to a postmastership at a salary of $6,000 annually.” She served until July 1933. The same release mentions the nomination of Mrs. Allie K. Dickerman at Tucson, Arizona, at a “substantial salary” of $3,600 a year. She was appointed Acting Postmaster on June 30, 1922, and Postmaster on January 26, 1923, serving until approximately May 1930.
In the 1930s and 1940s, postmasterships were awarded to women in cities such as Anchorage and Fairbanks, Alaska; Jonesboro and Little Rock, Arkansas ; Los Angeles and Oakland, California; Des Moines, Iowa; Ashland, Kentucky; Portland, Maine; Jackson, Mississippi; Corpus Christi, Texas; and Roanoke, Virginia.
The 1943 Annual Report of the Postmaster General indicates that there were over 17,500 women serving as postmasters at that time. In August 1949, 17,166 of the 41,575 postmasters were women.
A feature press release on “lady Postmasters” issued by the Post Office Department on February 3, 1958, states that a “recent check shows the Post Office Department has 15,751 lady postmasters, which is probably the largest number of women branch managers of any business type operation in the world …” Postmaster General Arthur Summerfield noted that “With our near 16,000 women postmasters representing close to half of our entire management staff, we believe it is fair to say the American Post Office Department . . .recognizes the management abilities of women perhaps more than any other private or governmental organization anywhere.”
The release also mentions several women postmasters (or acting postmasters) who headed post offices with more than a million dollars in annual receipts, including Hackensack and Union, New Jersey; Corpus Christi, Texas; Boys Town, Nebraska; and Beverly Hills, California.
In the 1960s, the following women were appointed at some of the major post offices in the United States: Mrs. Marguerite S. Fanning, appointed Acting Postmaster of Burbank, California, on March 30, 1962, and Postmaster on December 21, 1963, serving until March 1971; Claire C. Moroney, Acting Postmaster of the Pleasantville, New York , Post Office from !961 to 1964; Mrs. Kay B. Omer, Postmaster at Van Nuys, California, from 1060 to 1972; Mrs. Ingrid V. Wells, Acting Postmaster of Duluth, Minnesota, from 1963 to 1965; Mrs. Berniece Hill Salermo, at Lansing , Michigan, appointed Acting Postmaster on May 5, 1961, and Postmaster on August 22, 1964, serving until February 1978; and Mrs. Kathryn S. Wilson, appointed Actong Postmaster on May 12, 1961, and Postmaster on July 26, 1963, at Pasadena, California, serving until March 1984.
The latter, Mrs. Kathryn S. Wilson, was also the first woman to head a Management Sectional Center (MSC). Mrs. Berniece Salermo also later became an MSC Manager/Postmaster at Lansing.
Since Postal Reorganization in 1971, women have served as MSC Manager/Postmasters at many offices across the country, including; Montgomery, Alabama; Fairbanks, Alaska; Jonesboro, Arkansas; North Bay, California; San Diego and San Francisco, California (later Field Divisions); Wilmington, Delaware; North Suburban, Illinois; Fort Wayne, Gary and Terre Haute, Indiana; Topeka, Kansas; Ashland, Bowling Green, and Lexington, Kentucky; Bangor, Maine; Shreveport, Louisiana; Middlesex-Essex, Massachusetts; Kalamazoo and Lansing, Michigan; Gulfport and Tupelo, Mississippi; Columbia, Missouri; Missoula, Montana; North Platte, Nebraska; Poughkeepsie, Syracuse and Utica, New York; Raleigh, North Carolina; Bismarck, North Dakota; Toledo, Youngstown and Zanesville, Ohio; Oklahoma City (later a Field Division) and Tulsa, Oklahoma; Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Nashville, Tennessee (later a Field Division); Austin and Beaumont, Texas; Charlottesville, Virginia; and Madison, Wisconsin.
Since the establishment of Field Divisions in March 1986, the following have also been Field Division General Managers/Postmasters:
- Mary A. Brown, at San Francisco, California, from 1986 to September 1988 (also MSC Manager from 1985 to 1986), and at Wichita, Kansas, from September 1988 to November 1990;
- Janet Norfleet, at the South Suburban, Illinois, Division, from March 1986 to July 1987, and at Chicago, Illinois, from April 1987 to November 1990;
- Esther J. Richards, at the Southern Maryland Division from August 1987 to January 1991, and the South Suburban Division from January 1991 to the present;
- Linda F. Sanchez, at Brooklyn, New York, from March 1986 to October 1989, and the South Jersey Division from January 1991 to the present;
- Margaret L. Sellers, at San Diego, California, from 1986 to the present (also MSC Manager from 1979 to 1986); Ann C. Wright, at Charleston, West Virginia, from June 1990 to the present.
Other Interesting Distinctions
Women postmasters have achieved other notable and interesting distinctions, including some very lengthy years of service.
Miss Mary W. Stewart, over 63 years as Postmaster of Oxford, Maryland, appointed on March 9, 1877, and serving until June 30, 1940;
- Lillian Bowles served continuously at Wonalancet, New Hampshire, for over 60 years. She was appointed Acting Postmaster on March 31, 1932; and Postmaster on August 18, 1932; and she retired on September 1, 1992;
- Mrs. Elizabeth Barnett, Acting Postmaster and Postmaster of Haywood, Oklahoma, for over 55 years, from May 23, 1935, until her retirement on August 31, 1990;
- Mrs. Ethyl Workman, over 50 years as Acting Postmaster and Postmaster of Muse, Oklahoma, from October 31, 1933, to January 3, 1984;
- Miss Mary L. Ballow, over 45 years as Postmaster of Dixon Spring(s), Tennessee, from February 1869 to July 1914;
- Mrs. Mary A. Meily, 43 years as Postmaster of Ono, Pennsylvania, appointed May 28, 1863, and serving until about June 1906;
- Miss Martha E. Stone, nearly 43 years as Postmaster of North Oxford Massachusetts, appointed on April 27, 1857, and serving until about January 1900.
A number of Catholic nuns or Sisters have also served the United States Postal Service as postmasters over the years.
For instance, the Saint Joseph’s, Sullivan County, New York, Post Office was headed by nuns from 1898 to 1981. Mother M. Polycarpa Staigele was appointed first postmaster on April 11, 1898, serving until her retirement on January 31, 1940. An article in the Postmasters’ Advocate of February 1940 states that “Mother Polycarpa was a young nun when she first came to the sanitarium on the hillside of St. Joseph’s, just outside Monticello. One of her early associates in the upbuilding of the institution at St. Joseph’s was a young priest named Patrick Hayes, later to become famous as Cardinal . . .” Mother Polycarpa was followed as postmaster by Sister M. Michelina Ostermayr and Sister Thomas T. Fink. The post office eventually closed in August 1983.
The Villa Maria, Pennsylvania, Post Office has also been managed by nuns for a number of years since 1889. Its first postmaster was the Reverend Mother Mary Odile, appointed on January 21, 1889.
The Nazareth Post Offices in Michigan and Kentucky, often flooded with requests for their cancellations during the Christmas season, have also been managed by nun postmasters for a number of years during their history.
- received: October 4, 1999
(Correspondence to the Salisbury Post Office beginning 1796)
Appointed Mr. Andrew Balfour Deputy Post Master at Salisbury in North Carolina and enclosed a Bond and blank forms of the Oaths to John Steele esqr of that place. March 21, 1796.
Mr. Andrew Balfour Sir
July 22, 1796
I have just received your Letter of the 3rd Instant with your quarterly account ending in June. Mr. Hawkin’s riders from some cause or other have failed in several instances. I have lately written to him on the subjects, and hope it will at least produce more regularity in future. It is very surprising to me that Mr. Chambers would not produce his Contracts to you which would have satisfied you as to the change I have made in his Schedule. The mail being sent once a week on his route it became necessary to alter the day of his arrival and departure at and from your Office. He will in future leave your office on Friday and return on Thursday noon. This is the schedule I fixed with Mr. Chambers and he is to observe it unless altered by Mr. Sibley with his consent. I send a supply of Blanks for your Office
and am &c J. H.
[Joseph Habersham, Postmaster General]
Mr. Andrew Balfour Sir
May 1, 1797
I send you three Letters which were sent from your Office to New York one of them directed to Mr. Giles contains a Post Bill which dearly evinces that the person who transacts the business of your Office must have been privy to this indecent and highly improper transaction. Postmasters are sometimes imposed upon and through the Channel of the mail insulting and trifling Letters are often conveyed without any blame attaching to the Department; but if those who are entrusted with the care of Offices are instruments of such insults it must tend to bring the Establishment into Disrepute and contempt. Your will be so good as to explain how this happened. P.S. Mr. Bauman the Postmaster at New York mentions that no Bill accompanied the Letters but on opening the Letter for Mr. Giles it was found enclosed in it.
1 am &c J. H.
Mrs. E. Balfour Novem 27, 1799
Madam I am favored with yours of the 3rd Inst and have written to Col Hawkins relative to the failure that occurred in the arrival of the Mail at your office on the 2nd Instant. You may assure the citizens of Salisbury that the Contractor will be fined for any failures that may occur on that route unless he makes it appear that they were occasioned by unavoidable accidents. I had occasion some time ago to exact fines of Col Hawkins to a very considerable amount, and I shall have recourse again to that measure if he makes it necessary. If any expense was incurred by sending the Post Boy back on the way to Halifax you will be pleased to inform me of it that the Contractor may be charged with it.
I am Madam &c J. H.
Andrew Balfour Esqr.
Sir
Decem 6, 1799
I wish you immediately to provide a new and suitable Portmanteau for Mr Chambers route as the one now in use he informs me is worn out. One of the smallest kinds will answer best the cost of which will constitute a proper charge in your account of Contingent Expenses
lam&c J. H.
Mr. Andrew Balfour Sir
January 25, 1800
On the 11 of January last (1799) I drew upon you in favor of Mr. John Hawkins for sixteen dollars: he was lately called upon to return his receipt for that sum and in reply states that you never paid it to him. Your account was credited with that sum at the time of drawing the draft and I hope you will transmit him the amount without delay.
I am &c J.H.
Mrs. E. Balfour March 14, 1800
Madam I have received your favor of the 26 Ulto. and am satisfied that the draft I sent Mr. Hawkins in February 1799 on Mr. Balfour for sixteen dollars has been paid though Mr. Hawkins receipt can not be found in this Office. I will write to Mr. Hawkins on the subject and at the same time forward him a certificate of having received the amount of the draft in question of Mr Balfour for his signature which will answer the purpose of voucher at the Treasury if Mr Hawkins receipt proves lost. The establishment of a Post Office at Mr Harris does not appear necessary there being no village at or contiguous to the spot or a sufficient number of Inhabitants to make it an object to accommodate them with the Mail.
I am &c J.H.
Mrs. Eliza Balfour Dec. 1, 1800
Salisbury N.C. Madam I have received yours of the 18th Ulto. covering a statement of Mr. Balfour’s account with this office which on examination proves to be nearly right – the balance due him on the first of October last is nine Dollars and sixty six cents, thirty three cents less than you make it to that period. Your draft in favor of Mr. Smith will be paid on being presented, there is no reason for apology in making the remittance to Mr Smith by a draft on this office – knowing the difficulty of obtaining bank notes in North Carolina and your punctuality in paying our drafts it will always give me pleasure to accommodate you in this manner. Mr. Balfour’s account is always credited with the amount of our drafts at the time of their being drawn.
I am J.H.
Mrs. Eliza Balfour March 9, 1801
Salisbury N.Ca. Madam I have received your favour of the 30 Jany. explaining the cause of the failures that occurred on Mr Chambers route it appears to my satisfaction that Mr Chambers made the alteration in his Schedule for the accommodation of the Public. I have therefore remitted the penalties that were charged to him. I have ever found him a faithful contractor and wish for the credit of the department there were more of its agents equally as well disposed to do justice to the Public in the execution of their Contract.
I am J.H.
P. M. Salisbury April 26 [1802]
North Carolina lt is not in the power of this department to furnish you with a new map at present.
G.G. [Postmaster General Gideon Granger]
A. Balfour Esq Salisbury N.C.
Feb. 2, 1812
with the mail.
I wish you to call at a Post Office established at D.W. Auley’s on your post route
G.Gr.
Andrew Balfour E P.M. Salisbury N.C. Decr. 16, 1812
It is represented to this office that you detain the mail at your office for hours. I pray you never to detain it over fifteen minutes and you will be careful to forward the mail before you deliver the letters &c. to the citizens.
G.Gr.
Mrs. E. Balfour P.M. Salisbury N.C. April 14, 1813
Your favor of the 7th inst is before me, all packages for the Lincolnton route must necessarily by sent from your office to Charlotte Ch, from whence they will obtain a right direction.
G.Gr.
Mrs. E. Balfour Jany 24, 1814
Salisbury N.C. I have received your note of the 10th inst. I most highly of your proceedings with the extra mail this is one of many instances in which your proceedings have called for my applause.
G.G.
Hon. Israel Pickens General Post Office
M. of the House January 31, 1817
Sir I have the honour to observe in reply to your letter of the 31 that Capt Ben. Newland of Morgantown has stipulated with this office to transport the mail from Salisbury via Statesville, Lincolnton, Morgantown &c to Asheville. He is to go and return on that route once a week – from Lincolnton the mail is to depart for Rutherfordton &c once a week in the mornings after the Salisbury mail shall have arrived at Lincolnton to better accommodate the latter office & offices in the county of Rutherfordton was our principal object in making the existing arrangement I fear that the great fault is in Capt Newland’s failing to carry the mail agreeably to his contract we some days ago made an inquiry into this business, if Newland proves unfaithful he shall be superceded the mail on that route shall be carried regularly.
R. J. Meigs [Retum J. Meigs, Jr., Postmaster General]
Ben. Newland near Morganton N.C.
Sir
January 31, 1817
If you do not carry the mail from Salisbury by all established offices, on the route and return the same way agreeably to your contract, I shall forthwith place the mail in other hands now confined to you, and rigidly exact all penalties by you incurred by your long experience in mail carrying you were acquainted with your duty for extending your route by Lincolnton you were allowed $100 a year.
R. J. Meigs
Andrew Balfour P.M. Salisbury N.C.
Sir
Jany. 31, 1817
I will thank you to read the enclosed letter to the carrier of the mail in behalf of Capt. Newland seal and send the letter to his employer does Newland carry the mail agreeably to the letter here enclosed may we have your reply
R. J. Migs
Hon. Pickens & Fomey February 10, 1817
Members of the House
Sir
In reply to yours of the 7th I have the honour to observe that the Postmaster at Salisbury N.C. is specially charged to forward and invariably so all mails by the pending mails the route for Lincolnton, Morgantown &c. departs from Salisbury on the days of the arrival of the mails from Salem, Raleigh & Fayetteville and the mail for Rutherfordton &c departs the mornings after the arrival of the mail from Salisbury has arrived at Lincolnton.
R. J. Meigs
A. Balfour Esqr P.M. Salisbury N.C.
Sir
February 10, 1817
Are mails for the several routes which arrived at your office forwarded and invariably so by the pending mail. no excuse can justify such delay if such delay shall exit or have existed the mail confided to Mr Parkers of Wilksborough which goes from your office via Lincolnton &c is to pass weekly from Febry. by that mail you will forward mails for Lincolnton, Rutherfordton &c.
R. J. Meigs
D. Reinhardt Esqr February 28, 1819
P.M. Lincolnton N.C. Sir I am again obliged by your attentions to the late failure the Postmaster at Salisbury has not advised us of either of the failures mentioned by you The contractor is fined and shall discharge his duty or retire from the service
RJMJr.
A. Balfour Esqr P.M. Salisbury N.C.
Sir
Feby 28, 1819
Report says two failures have occurred in the Raleigh mails arrival at your office
is it so?
RJMJr
Andrew Balfour Esqr PM Salisbury N.C.
Sir
May 26, 1820
I wish you to state whether Messrs Gallent &co. are now transporting the mail in stages between your office and Union C.H.S.C.[Union Court House, South Carolina] agreeably to their proposals.
RJMJr
Messrs Polk Gallent & Co.
December 14th 1822
Charlotte N.C. Sirs Until further advised you will continue your current mail arrangement in stages between Salisbury & Union C.H. (S.Ca.). You will however view this arrangement as no other than a temporary one.
R. J. Meigs Jr.
Saml. Reeves Esqr. P.M. Salisbury N.Ca.
Sir
December 14th 1822
It is my wish to have the mail stage line from Fredg [Fredericksburg] to Georgia continued under its present arrangement for the present I wish you to advise the carrier of the respective lines of my wishes upon this subject the arrangement to be but temporary And I wish it so consider[ed] wish a reply
James B. Johnson Esqr. P.M. Halifax C.H. Va
Sir
R. J. Meigs Jr. December 14th 1822
I wish the present mail stage arrangement continued between Fredericksburg 8 Halifax c.h., Halifax c.h. & Salisbury N.Ca. &c You will request the respective carriers of those routes to continue they will pursue their present routes This arrangement is to be considered only as temporary. I wish a reply
R. J. Meigs Jr.
Postmaster Tracking System Postmasters by Post Office
SALISBURY POST OFFICE, ROWAN COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA
Title Name Date Appointed
Postmaster George Lauman 06/12/1792
Postmaster Samuel Dayton 04/12/1793
Postmaster Andrew Balfour 03/21/1796
Postmaster Samuel Reeves 01/07/1822
Postmaster Henry W. Connor 02/13/1838
Postmaster Benjamin Julian 02/08/1841
Postmaster John A. Weirman 05/16/1853
Postmaster Moses A. Smith 01 /14/1858
Postmaster Lewis Beard 04/13/1861
Postmaster Anthony Bencini 07/19/1865
Postmaster H. H. Helper 03/03/1871
Postmaster David L. Bringle 10/07/1871
Postmaster James H. Ramsay 08/16/1882
Postmaster Archibald H. Boyden 06/15/1885
Postmaster James H. Ramsay 07/18/1889
Postmaster Archibald H. Boyden 06/12/1893
Postmaster James H. Ramsay 10/08/1897
Postmaster W. H. Hobson 08/29/1910
Postmaster James H. Ramsay 03/03/1911
Postmaster Archibald H. Boyden 07/15/1914
Acting Postmaster James H. Ramsay 08/01/1923
Postmaster James H Ramsay 12/17/1923
Acting Postmaster William L Ross 01/01/1931
Acting Postmaster Romulus C Jennings 01/07/1931
Postmaster Philip N. Peacock 02/24/1932
Acting Postmaster James H. McKenzie 03/01 /1936
Postmaster James H. McKenzie 03/18/1936
Acting Postmaster Paul P. Hinkle 07/30/1965
Postmaster Paul P Hinkle 07/27/1966
Officer-In-Charge Richard Burion 03/02/1990
Postmaster Karen E Schenck 09/08/1990
Officer-In-Charge David Ball 12/24/1991
Officer-In-Charge William L Johnson 06/11/1992
Officer -In-Charge Ernest Haas 09/30/1992
Postmaster David P Barcio 03/20/1993
1940 Post Office Response Letter:
March 11, 1940.
Mr. Gelston:
The first rural delivery service in the United States was established on October 1, 1896, at Charles Town, Uvilla and Halltown, West Virginia. The first rural delivery service in the state of North Carolina was established on October 23, 1896, at China Grove. Rural delivery service was established at Salisbury, North Carolina, on April 1, 1902, with three carriers at $500 per annum each.
Records in the Post Office Department Library indicate that the Salisbury, North Carolina, post office was established June 12, 1792, with George Lawmann (shown later as Lauman) as the first postmaster.
The records show that upon the death of Mr. Lauman, apparently just prior to March 6, 1793, Samuel Dayton assumed charge of the office, and that on April 12, 1793, a commission as postmaster at Salisbury was forwarded to him.
An entry in Letter Book “E” shows that on March 21, 1796, Andrew Balfour was appointed postmaster at Salisbury, and a letter to Mr. Balfour of the same date shows that Samuel Dayton had died subsequent to January 14, 1796. Correspondence in the Letter Books indicate that the accounts were carried in Samuel Dayton’s name through March 31, 1796.
Letters of March 14, 1800, to Mrs. E. Balfour, and letters of December 1, 1800, and March 9, 1801, to Mrs. Eliza Balfour, indicate clearly that she was taking care of the business of the office for Andrew Balfour, postmaster. A letter of the Department dated December 7, 1809, was addressed to E. Balfour, postmaster at Salisbury, it is the opinion of this office that the title was a clerical error.
Lists of post offices, with postmasters, are available for the years 1811, 1813, 1817, 1819, 1822, and 1825. All of them, except the 1825 list, show Andrew Balfour as postmaster at Salisbury. The 1825 list shows Samuel Reeves.
The records show that on September 27, 1792, Mrs. Sarah Decrow was appointed postmaster at Hertford, North Carolina. From records available, it is believed Mrs. Decrow was the first woman to be appointed to a postmastership under the Constitution. It is known, of course, that at least two women held similar positions under the Continental Congress.