the oklahoma philatelist - Oklahoma Philatelic Society

THE OKLAHOMA PHILATELIST
The Official Quarterly Newsletter of the Oklahoma Philatelic Society
3rd Quarter 2013 Issue
SPRING 2013 STAMP COLLECTING
FOR KIDS CLASS
Vinita, Indian Territory Hotel
“Forward By” Markings: New Reporting
By Charles S. Wallis, Jr.
This article discusses a previously unreported “Western Hotel,
Vinita, Ind. Ter.” forwarded, magenta hand stamped marking on
cover posted by VINITA, IND. T., NOV. 6, 1896, duplex hand
cancel with cork killer (Figure 1). The cover has a return address
for HALBERT E. PAINE, ATTORNEY AND COUNSELOR,
WASHINGTON, D.C., mailed to Mrs. H. E. Paine, Washington,
D.C., while Mr. Paine was conducting business in the Indian Territory; perhaps providing an update of his travels to his wife. The
back side has a WASHINGTON, D. C., NOV 8, 2-PM ’96, Barry
Postal Supply Co. of New York, 2nd year in operation service
machine cancel, indicating it took just two days for the letter to
travel from Vinita, Ind. Ter., to Washington, D.C., which is
quicker than one would expect for a letter mailed today.
By Sandy Warwick
This year Tulsa Community College held the third annual
Stamp Collecting for Kids class on June 10-13, 2013. Seven
kids took the class which was sponsored by the Tulsa Stamp
Club. The class this year had demonstrations on mounting,
soaking and stamp identification. They filled their home-made
stamp albums with all kinds of stamps. Most students are topical collectors and FDC collectors.
.
This class of students included John Bilder, Natalie Chaple,
Jennifer Creason, Lilly Jiang, Raymond Jiang, Sara
McMankin and Matthew Monnot. The teachers were Mrs.
Sandy Warwick and Miss Abby Darr. I would like to thank all
of the members of the Tulsa Stamp Club who donated the
stamps and supplies for this class; the class would not be possible without your donations.
Figure1. Newly reported “Forwarded By” Hotel Western, Vinita,
Ind. Ter., fancy circle marking, posted Nov. 6, 1896. (Author’s collection)
This is the sixth variety or style of hotel “Forwarded By” markings
reported for Indian Territory. These examples reflect two different towns, with this being the third version reported for Vinita.
Other reported examples include three different versions for the
Hotel Adams in Muskogee. Two different versions of forwarded
markings (both for the Hotel Cobb in Vinita, Ind. Ter.) have previously been described by Joe Crosby (Auxiliary Markings, April
2013, Issue 38:7-8). The other town/hotel known to have used
“Forwarded By” markings is the Hotel Adams in Muskogee, with
three different varieties reported so far. Hotel Adams “Forwarded
Continued on page 4….
OPS Contacts:
Brady R Hunt
President
[email protected]
Bob Hyer
Secretary
[email protected]
John Mangelinkx
OPS Sales Department
[email protected]
Joe H Crosby
Vice President
5009 Barnsteeple Court
Oklahoma City, OK 73142
[email protected]
Ray Janz
Treasurer
[email protected]
Steve Brandt
Speakers Bureau
[email protected]
Reggie Hofmaier
Editor
4005 Driftwood Circle
Yukon, OK 73099
[email protected]
Website: www.oklaps.org Mailing address: Oklahoma Philatelic Society, PO Box 6934, Moore, OK 73153
OPS Affiliated Clubs
3 Quarter 2013 Calendar
rd
JULY
2 OKC Stamp Club - Ice Cream Social
3 Baton Rouge Stamp Club – No Meeting
Norman Stamp Club – No Meeting
4 Tulsa Stamp Club – No Meeting
9 Crescent City Stamp Club - TBA
Oklahoma Postal History – No Meeting
16 OKC Stamp Club – No Meeting
17 Baton Rouge Stamp Club – Circuit Books and Club Business
Santa Fe Stamp Club – Circuit Books
18 Joplin Stamp Club - Meeting
Tulsa Stamp Club – APS Slide Show “Mexican Stamps:
1914 Denver Eagles”
27 OKC Stamp Club FUNFEST @ Asbury United Methodist
Church
AUGUST
1 Joplin Stamp Club - Meeting
Tulsa Stamp Club – Club Members Bourse, Part 2
6 OKC Stamp Club – Open
7 Baton Rouge Stamp Club – Circuit Books and Club Business
Norman Stamp Club – No Meeting
13 Crescent City Stamp Club – Show and Share
Oklahoma Postal History – No Meeting
15 Joplin Stamp Club – Annual Ice Cream Social
Tulsa Stamp Club – APS Video “Video Guide to Stamp Collecting”
20 OKC Stamp Club – Open
21 Baton Rouge Stamp Club – APS Program
Santa Fe Stamp Club – Circuit Books
SEPTEMBER
3 OKC Stamp Club – Open
4 Baton Rouge Stamp Club – Circuit Books and Club Business
Norman Stamp Club - Auction
THE OKLAHOMA PHILATELIST 3rd Quarter 2013 Page 2
5 Joplin Stamp Club - Meeting
Tulsa Stamp Club – “Stamp Pile’ night with Stamp Mixture
10 Crescent City Stamp Club –Members Bourse
Oklahoma Postal History – Comanche County Postal History, Joe Crosby
17 OKC Stamp Club – Open
18 Baton Rouge Stamp Club – Circuit Books and Club Business
Santa Fe Stamp Club – Circuit Books
19 Joplin Stamp Club – Final Planning for Show
Tulsa Stamp Club- “Stamp Pile” night with New Mixture
(Auction Lots Due)
OCTOBER
1 OKC Stamp Club – Auction
2 Baton Rouge Stamp Club – Circuit Books and Club Business. Election of Officers
Norman Stamp Club – Nominating Committee
3 Joplin Stamp Club - Meeting
Tulsa Stamp Club – Club Auction
5 Joplin Stamp Club – Annual Show in Carthage, MO 9:005:00
8 Crescent City Stamp Club – Club Elections and APS Slide
Program
Oklahoma Postal History – Confederate States of America
in Indian Territory, Including Military Courier Mail, Crosby
and Pence
15 OKC Stamp Club – Open
16 Baton Rouge Stamp Club – Fall Auction by Club Members
Santa Fe Stamp Club – Circuit Books
17 Joplin Stamp Club – Meeting: Review of Show
Tulsa Stamp Club – What’s New in Expo 1958 by Sandy
Warwick
Area Stamp Shows
SEPTEMBER
20 - 22 Greater Houston Stamp Show
OCTOBER
5 Joplin Stamp Club Annual Show Carthage, MO
5 -6 Annual Stamp Show Lawton-Ft. Sill, OK
25 -26 OKPEX 2013 Oklahoma City, OK
Greater Houston
Stamp Show
Sponsored by the Houston Philatelic Society September 20
through 22
The place:
Humble Civic Center
8233 Will Clayton Parkway
Humble, Texas
The times:
OKPEX COMING
OCTOBER 25THand 26th
Plan now to attend OKPEX 2013 and the annual meeting of
your Oklahoma Philatelic Society. OKPEX is an APS World
Series of Philately Show held on Friday and Saturday – NOT
ON SUNDAY!
The place:
Express Event Center
8512 NW Expressway
Oklahoma City, OK
The times:
Friday, September 20th, 10am – 6pm
Saturday, September 21st, 10am – 6pm
Sunday, September 22nd, 10am – 4pm
1200 Frames of exhibits!
Friday, October 25th, 10am – 6pm
Saturday, October 26th, 10am – 4pm
125 Frames of exhibits!
15 Dealers from 6 states are expected including:
33 Dealers from 9 states!
For additional information including a list of hotels near the
show, seminars and meetings during the show and the dealers
who are attending, go to:
www.houstonstampclub.org
<———————————————————————————>
Lawton Stamp Show
The Lawton-Fort Sill Stamp Club is sponsoring their annual
stamp show on the 5th and 6th of October, which is Saturday
and Sunday.
The place:
Center for Creative Living
3501 SW Drive
Lawton, OK
Doors are open from 9AM until 5 PM on Saturday and from 10
AM to 4 PM on Sunday.
At this time there are 11 dealers signed up and we are expecting at least two more to sign up. Dealers are from Texas,
Oklahoma, Kansas and the local area.
Tables already reserved:
Main Street Philatelics (Bernie Bernstein) Branson, MO
Oklahoma Stamps (Kirk McKenzie), Tulsa, OK
Black Cat Philatelics (Sharon Loeffler), Tulsa, OK
Oceanview Stamp Co. (William Hontos),Huntington
Beach, CA
Kyle Nebo, Sandy, Utah
Expected to reserve a table:
Stamps Universal (James D. Myers), Coppel, TX
Postal Hysteria (Jeff Switt), Montague, TX
Sooner Stamps Unlimited((Rainer Gerlach), Tulsa, OK
Chrisco Stamps (Rex Chrisco), Wichita, KS
Viking Philatelics (Robert Thomson Burney), Kansas
City, MO
George Watkins, Iola, TX
Tiger Collectibles (Scott Couch), Kansas City, MO
Worldwide Philatelics, Kansas City, MO
Eagle Stamp Co. (Jim Roy Warden II), Little Rock, AR
Queen City Coins & Stamps, La Fayette, GA.
SEND YOUR CURRENT EMAIL ADDRESS
TO THE OPS, TO GET MORE NEWS -SOONER.
SEND TO: [email protected].
Just in case you are concerned,
OPS does not share mailing lists.
THE OKLAHOMA PHILATELIST 3rd Quarter 2013 Page 3
Continued from page 1 ….
By” markings have also been discussed by Joe Crosby, initially in
the Oklahoma Philatelist (2012: 2nd Quarter, 1 & 4) and repeated
in Auxiliary Markings (Vol. IX, No. 4, No. 36 pp. 10-12). This
article discusses a previously unreported Vinita example. For
comparison, the previously reported “Forwarded By” markings
for Vinita, I.T. are illustrated, courtesy of Brady Hunt and Joe
Crosby (Figures 2, & 3).
Figure 4. Wilson St. Vinita, Okla. as viewed to the northwest,
posted 1911. (Author’s collection)
Figure 2 “Forwarded By”
Hotel Cobb, Vinita, Ind. Ter.,
shield marking. (Brady Hunt
Figure 3. “Forwarded By” Hotel
Cobb, Vinita, Ind. Ter., octagon
marking, posted 1894. (Joe Crosby
collection)
To help the reader have a better understanding of the town under discussion, Vinita, Indian Territory (now Oklahoma), is the
county seat of Craig County. The town opened its first post office
on September 13, 1871. According to Helbock (1987:90) the initial post office closed on November 11, 1872, reopening a month
later on December 16, 1872. Whether this involved a shift in the
town location or just the post office, is unclear. Over the years,
the types/styles of postal markings used by the Vinita post office
have varied, with no less than 18 varieties reported for Indian
Territory alone. This area of discussion is not expanded on further for this article, as it already was discussed by Signorelli &
Caldwell (1966) in “Indian Territory Mail”. This publication is also
the earliest source identifying and listing “Adams Hotel Forwarded By” markings.
Vinita, situated in the Cherokee Nation at the junction of the M K
& T and St L & SF railways is 360 miles from St. Louis by the latter
route, making it a prime location for competition in regards to
freight rates for shipping cattle, hay, and other agriculture products. The town advertised several artesian wells with an abundance of pure water, which by statehood was augmented by a
water works system. By at least 1901, the town had an electric
plant.
The period of time that seems to be yielding “Forwarded By”
markings for Indian Territory, is prior to the “Post Card Craze”
era. Consequently, one has to picture what Vinita looked like
during its beginnings, based on views taken towards the end of
the Territorial Period.
Most of the post card views of Vinita’s downtown business district shown in this article were posted during the early 1910s, or
THE OKLAHOMA PHILATELIST 3rd Quarter 2013 Page 4
Figure 5. Wilson Street, Vinita, Okla. looking north, real photo
postcard, posted 1914. (Author’s collection)
Figure 6. South Wilson Street, Vinita, Oklahoma. Unused card.
(Author’s collection)
later; but quite likely are based on photographs taken during
the ending “Territorial Period” (Before November, 1907). Wilson Street is particularly well represented. Figure 4 shows
what the business district looked like along Wilson Street
looking northwest, about mid-way down the block. Just the
west side of the street is visible in this view, which was posted
April 5, 1911. Judging by the card, the town was quite busy
and based on the types of transportation shown, likely dates
from the Territorial Period.
A real photo postcard posted January 17, 1914, shows Wilson
Street looking north from Illinois Avenue (Figure 5). Again the
photo utilized probably dates from the early 1910s, if not earlier. The third view of South Wilson Street looking towards the
south (Figure 6) is unused and shows Wilson Street viewed in
the opposite direction from the preceding two cards.
The main target of discussion for this article is the Western Hotel, situated along Illinois Avenue. Joe Crosby kindly provided
me with scans of an early postcard, along with a more current
photograph of the building provided to him by courtesy of
Kathleen Duchamp with the Eastern Trails Museum (Figures 7 &
8). The early postcard shows the Western Hotel in its heyday.
The building has the “WESTERN HOTEL” logo on the building’s
Figure 7. Illinois Avenue, Vinita, Okla. (Image courtesy Eastern Trails
Museum)
upper facade facing Illinois Ave., along with the date “1894” in
the key stone situated over the main entryway, the year the
hotel was built.
The hotel however wasn’t open for business until the first week
in March, the following year. This is supported by statements
published in “The Indian Chieftain”, in the “Personal Notes”
column (Vol. 13, No. 24, Ex. 1, Feb. 14, 1895), which states “The
present expectation is that the new Western Hotel will be
opened about March 1st.” This statement provides what I consider to be a good opening date/day for the Western Hotel.
This was followed by comments in the March 7, 1895, edition
which states “…Artiate Photo Co. located in the tent opposite
Western Hotel”, further supporting the Western Hotel was
open for business by early March, 1895.
The September 5th, 1895, edition states: “Action held at 9:00
O’clock Saturday morning, Sept. 7, 1895 in the New Western
Hotel building…W. R. BADGET…”, along with a small advertisement “Bus meets all trains day or night, and makes calls in all
parts of the city, leave orders at Western Hotel for Bus or Livery.” The “Personal Notes” column, in the October 24, 1895,
edition, documents “married, at the Western hotel, Oct 22 nd, by
Rev. New Forrest, pastor Congregational church, Mr. S. H.
Sampson and Miss Rose Settle, both of New Franklin, Mo.”
These comments lend further support for an operational hotel
before the end of 1895.
Two online sources were utilized in my search for information
regarding the Western Hotel appearing in “The Indian
Chieftain”, a local Vinita, Indian Territory newspaper, which
initially published a four-page newspaper on Thursday of each
week. Early editions of this paper can be viewed online by
accessing either “The Library of Congress, Chronicling America
Collection” site which starts with the 1882-09-29 edition, up
to 1901-12-18, or by accessing the Oklahoma Historical Society’s online Oklahoma newspaper site at http:/
gateway.okhistory.org. The latter provided me with access to
The Indian Chieftain up through Dec. 11, 1902.
The Indian Chieftain provided the citizens of Vinita and the
region with gossip and news of what was going on, not only in
Vinita, but in the local region as well. At the beginning it
seems there was little local news. Instead, the paper tended to
publish articles produced from elsewhere, outside of Indian
Territory, probably to keep its readers informed of national
events. Unfortunately, this resulted in little information being
obtained regarding local businesses in Vinita, the purpose of
my searches. This changed somewhat during the early 1900s
once the Dawes Commission’s involvement with allotment of
Indian Lands started, with more news being published regarding happenings in Indian Territory.
Oklahoma and Indian Territory directories and gazetteers
were also examined. According to the 1909-1910, R.L. Polk &
Co. Gazetteer and Business Directory, The Indian Chieftain
published a “daily newspaper, the Chieftain and 3 weeklies”
which suggests sometime after statehood the newspaper became a daily, instead of a once a week publication.
This local newspaper source, as well as Indian Territory and
later, post-statehood, Oklahoma business and city directories,
demonstrated that most hotels in Vinita, simply didn’t take
out advertisements in either the local newspaper, or other
media sources for that matter. Most of the hotels that I have
been able to find listed for Vinita, simply do not appear in directories, or only occasionally, even though other sources
clearly document the hotel in question was active at the time.
Citizens were apparently able to obtain the necessary information through other means.
The Western Hotel did take out a small advertisement in the
Thursday Dec. 3, 1896 edition of The Indian Chieftain which
was included as a small- size ad in a special Christmas, full
page advertisement along with other businesses. This advertisement lists “H. C. Barritt, Manager / Leading Hotel of the
City / New House, Newly Furnished / Free Bus to and from all
Trains / Every Care Exercised to Make the Traveling Public
Comfortable.” The Western Hotel located on Illinois Ave., is
situated along the first street north and parallel to the tracks
and east of two intersecting downtown commercial cross
streets. Judging from the number of postcards that I have
seen, the prime business streets during this time must have
been Wilson Street and Illinois Avenue (refer to Figures 6, 7 &
8).
The Western Hotel was apparently the most prevalent business located on Illinois Ave., as the hotel is frequently named
THE OKLAHOMA PHILATELIST 3rd Quarter 2013 Page 5
in the Indian Chieftain as a reference point for other businesses
in the block, such as an advertisement for watch maker and
jeweler, August Schliecker, who stated he will “On and after
Saturday Sept. 7th (1895)… again be at my old place of business
under Western Hotel (with W. R. Badgett)…” (March 7th, 1895
edition) and other advertisements such as those denoting a
“Model Clothing Boot and Shoe House Under Western Hotel” (October 10tn & 24th, 1895, editions).
The next year, a small ad was placed in the 1896 edition promoting the “Western Hotel / H. C. Barritt, Manager / Leading
Hotel of the City / Every Care Exercised to Make Traveling Public comfortable / Free Bus to and from all Trains / New House,
Newly Furnished” as the place to stay (Vol. 15, No. 14,Ed. 1,
Thursday, December 3, 1896). This is the period of time the
Vinita “Forwarded By” cover shown in Figure 1 was posted.
Over the next six years, the Western Hotel continued to be mentioned in the paper; mainly in reference to other nearby businesses, as the place of weddings or locations of businesses (in the
same building or nearby), with few actual advertisements being
placed in the paper by the hotel. The latter however, is true for
the other hotels operating in Vinita as well.
Based on an article published in The Indian Chieftain, it appeared that the Western Hotel may have gone out of business by
the end of August,1901. This article under the heading “Western
Hotel Sale” was accompanied by the following statement: “An
auction sale of the furnishings of the Western Hotel was held on
Thursday to satisfy a chattel mortgage held by W. E. Halsell.
Several entered bids during the… “. The ending sentence which
appears at the bottom of the page, was either not printed or is
trimmed off of the two copies of the article that I was able to
access online. It does not continue at the top of the next column,
so whatever the concluding sentence said is unclear (Vol. 19,
No. 52, Ed. 1, Thursday, August 22, 1901, page 1, bottom of 2 nd
column). This statement would seem to suggest that the Western
Hotel was no longer operating after this date. However, statements published in the next week’s edition, under the heading of
“Local Sayings” state “Mr. & Mrs. Barrett, parents of Geo. Barrett of the Cobb Hotel, arrived Thursday for a short visit” followed shortly by “Mr. and Mrs. H. C. Barrett have charge of the
Western hotel, which is now being used as a rooming adjunct to
the Cobb house” (The Indian Chieftain, August 29, 1901, Vol.
20, No. 1, Ed. 1, p-4). These statements indicate the Western
Hotel was still operating under original management, and in
some manner may have even been connected with the Cobb Hotel.
Later editions published after August 1901, indicate the hotel
was operational even after the hotel contents auction concluded.
Small advertisements relating to “Big 4C Realty Agency” land
deals, conducted out of their office in the Western Hotel, appear
in the paper in late 1901 and 1902 (The Indian Chieftain, October 24, 1901, Vol. 20, No. 9, Ed. 1). More compelling evidence
that the “Western Hotel” was housing guests well into 1902, is a
column titled “AT THE HOTELS / Territory Visitors and Where
They Are Domiciled”, which provided the number and names of
guests residing at the Cobb Hotel, Green Hotel and Western Hotel at the time. The Green Hotel had 15 guest; where as the Cobb
Hotel had 8, and the Western Hotel had 9 (The Indian Chieftain,
THE OKLAHOMA PHILATELIST 3rd Quarter 2013 Page 6
September 11, 1902, Vol. 21, No. 3, Ed. 1, page 3). Perhaps cost
of rooms is reflected in the number of guests staying at each
location. I have been unable to locate editions of the paper published after this date online.
Although not compelling evidence, it is possible that a major
fire, that occurred on the morning of Friday, January 25, 1901,
in the Western Hotel block, had something to do with the eventual demise of the hotel. The Indian Chieftain (Vol. 19, No 23,
Ed.1, Thursday, January 31, 1901) under the title “A Costly
Blaze Fire Last Friday Morning Destroyed $1,500 Worth of
Property” states: “While assisting in removing Mr. Clapper’s
piano from his room in the Western Hotel to the sidewalk, Mr.
J. R. Greening had his hand painfully jammed and cut, necessitating the attention of Dr. Louis Bagby…lost two story frame
building occupied as a butcher shop and dwelling, and the adjacent one-story frame structure, occupied as a tamale stand, cobblers shop and barber shop on Illinois Avenue between Frasee’s
& Jumbo store were totally destroyed by fire Friday morning…
The guests at the Western Hotel had been awakened by Miss
Gertrude Ruble, the proprietress, upon the first alarm, and they
hastily packed their effects preparatory to a quick moving in
case further danger threatened…” The article further mentions
the fire was prevented from spreading to the “Hill and Halsell
buildings” due to quick actions by all. There is no mention of
damage to the Western Hotel itself; however, loss of a portion
of the business block may have routed future guests to other
nearby hotels. The Western Hotel building still stands today
along Illinois Ave., but at apparently less than half its original
length (Figure 8).
Figure 8. Western Hotel as it looks today. (Image courtesy Eastern Trails
Museum)
The February 14, 1895 edition, which states “Henry Wortman is
having a blacksmith shop built between the Hotel Cobb and the
Vinita Hotel and will move in a week or two” provides the
names of two other competing hotels in Vinita. By October 24,
1895, the Indian Chieftain included a notice of the “Bachtel
Hotel, north side Frisco R’y., newly furnished; a first-class
$1.00 house; Special terms for week board. Mrs. Thos Bluejacket” (as proprietor), indicating no less than four lodging houses
were in operation in Vinita by this date; providing the Western
Hotel stiff competition.
A Vinita hotel operating under the name “Bluejacket Hotel”,
housing the office for Thos. Bluejacket’s 1902 land sales, ap-
pears in the paper later on (The Indian Chieftain, December 4,
1902, Vol. 21, Ed. 1, p-4, & December 11, 1902, Vol. 21, No.
16, Ed. 1). It is unclear at this time if this hotel was in the same
building as the earlier Bachtel Hotel, or a different location.
Of these locations, only The Cobb Hotel and the Western Hotel
are currently known to have used “Forwarded By” markings on
outgoing mail. It will be interesting to see if other hotels in
Vinita during this period supplied similar routings as well. Currently, the only other reported hotel to have used “Forwarded
By” markings in Indian Territory is Hotel Adams in Muskogee
(Crosby 2013). “Forwarded By” markings currently reported
for Vinita, date 1894-1896, within the period of time for Hotel
Adams (1890-1898).
ety meetings (2012), provided examples of received hotel
backstamps for the Skirvin and Lee-Huckins hotels in Oklahoma City. These back stamps were on 1909 and 1914, poststatehood, posted covers respectively. Currently there are no
reported territorial received hotel markings for either Indian
Territory or Oklahoma Territory.
Documented hotel covers from Indian Territory previously
reported by Joe Crosby (2013), tend to be posted by RPO
markings. This is what one would expect, as the larger hotels
were typically situated in towns served by active railroads,
which had contracts with the Post Office to process and carry
mail by way of rail to its destination. The hotel, typically located close to the train station, would simply have an employee
hand carry mail left by their customers at the front desk to the
train station after applying a forwarding routing marking in
most cases, rather than taking it to the post office directly.
Mail deposited at the post office would be canceled at that
location prior to being carried in a mail bag to the train station;
which was the case with the Western Hotel cover shown in
Figure 1. Mail delivered by the hotel to the station directly,
was canceled on board a Railway Mail Car with an R.P.O. Canceller, sorted and bagged according to destination, along with
mail transferred to the station by the post office. Sorting and
posting was typically done while in route to the next stop.
Figure 9. . Los Angeles, California, Hollenbeck Hotel “Received
By” marking on back of 1908 South McAlester, Ind. Ter. Busby
Hotel cover. (Author’s collection)
Figure 11 Cobb Hotel. Vinita, Okla., unused postcard, post1940 printing. (Author’s collection)
Figure 10. The Busby Hotel South McAlester, Ind. Ter. 1908
cover with Hollenbeck Hotel back marking. (Author’s collection)
Another type of routing marking, that should appear on hotel
covers dating from this time period, is the “RECEIVED BY”
marking. The example shown in Figure 9, applied by the Hollenbeck Hotel in Los Angeles, California, appears on the back
side of a “THE BUSBY, SOUTH McALESTER, IND. TER.” return
address hotel cover. This cover posted by a K.C. & DENISON,
APR 16, 1908, TR. 1, R. P. O. (Railway Post Office) duplex hand
cancel, dates five months after statehood (Figure 10). Joe
Crosby during one of our recent Oklahoma Postal History Soci-
How many and during which period of time, should we expect
hotel routing markings? As will be expanded on below, all of
the “Forwarded By” examples reported so far, date within a
relatively brief period (1890-1898). Should we expect earlier
examples? The two previously reported “Forwarded By”
markings for The Cobb Hotel, include a cover posted in 1894
sold by David G. Phillips in 1999 (sale 101, Lot 1257), recently
acquired by Joe Crosby (April 2013, Issue 38, pages 7-8). Brady
Hunt’s cover (Figure 2) displays a different variety of the Cobb
Hotel marking than the preceding example, along with a partial Sedelia & Denison, R. P. O. strike, which unfortunately
does not show the year of posting. The Figure 2 cover also
displays a poorly struck RPO cancel.
THE OKLAHOMA PHILATELIST 3rd Quarter 2013 Page 7
The earliest mention of The Cobb Hotel I was able to find in The
Indian Chieftain, appears in the March 14, 1895 edition. However, Joe Crosby (April 2013) states “The new Cobb Hotel was
erected in 1891” some four years earlier. The Indian Chieftain
advertisement simply stated “Leave your laundry with Nuck
Berry / HOTEL COBB / VINITA—IND TER / Agent for D. H. Hollister / Parsons Steam Laundry / Work returned promptly and
guaranteed to be the best.” This short ad was repeated several
times that year.
The Cobb Hotel’s name also appears in the February 6, 1921,
final edition of The Morning Tulsa Daily World; so it may be the
longest continuously operating hotel we will see from Vinita. A
postcard showing how the hotel looked during its later years is
shown in Figure 11. This card is unused, but interestingly on the
back states: “When In Vinita, Oklahoma – Stop at THE COBB
HOTEL “The Best in Town,” Near The Grand River Dam, G. M.
WILSON, Proprietor.” The Grand River Dam was completed in
1940, which helps date this card. Judging by a much earlier
view (Figure 12) posted by K. CITY & DENISON, AUG 11, TR 4,
1910, R. P. O. duplex hand cancel, this hotel changed little in
appearance over the years.
Figure 12. Cobb Hotel. Vinita, Okla., posted 1910. (Author’s collection Cobb)
Additional named hotels, operating in Vinita during the period
of time “Forwarded By” markings were applied by the Cobb
and Western hotels, appear in The Indian Chieftain, April 21,
1898, as well as later editions. This edition mentions “Hotel
Green” prior to its being listed in McMaster’s 1901 gazetteer.
The name Hotel Green appears in a McCormick Binder and
Mower advertisement wherein it is stated “A. N. Green is agent
at Vinita, Ind. Ter. for this invincible machinery – undoubtedly
the best manufactured, as it was the first invented / AT HOTEL
GREEN.” This same edition of the paper provides the following
changes in management of the Cobb Hotel: “Hotel Change / J.
H. Arter, of Coffeyville, took charge of the Hotel Cobb Sunday…
Mr. Freeman, the “retiring manager”, resumes his position as
traveling salesman for the shoe house of Kirkendall & Co. of
Omaha. His family will reside in Muskogee.”
The only gazetteer or directory I have been able to locate for
Indian Territory so far, is one published by the McMaster Publishing Co. in 1901. This gazetteer lists four hotels for Vinita in
1901, but not the same hotels in the case of two of the four
discussed above for 1895. Two of the four 1901 hotels are
listed as “large brick buildings that would be a credit to a much
larger city”; with Hotel Cobb being the leading commercial
house. That Hotel Cobb took out a full page advertisement in
McMaster’s gazetteer and business directory, could be the reason they received a better endorsement as the place to stay.
This hotel continued to be a major commercial location in Vinita well past Statehood. The four hotels listed in 1901 are: the
Western Hotel with Gertrude Ruble & Co. as proprs; Hotel
Cobb with J. H. Arter as propr; Hotel Green with A. N. Green as
propr.; and, The Whitney. The latter location operated by G. A.
Whitney appears in the town directory section as a
“restaurant”, but also appears in the back under “Hotels”, suggesting the business also provided at least some rooms for
rent. Not listed, is the Vinita Hotel. This suggests the hotel noted for 1895 was no longer in business by this date. The view of
the Vinita Hotel shown on the postcard in Figure 13 is a much
later hotel, taking up an earlier namesake.
The earliest named hotel for Vinita mentioned in The Indian
Chieftain (February 7, 1884 edition) is the “San Francisco Hotel”, which first appears in a brief article “Married – At the San
Francisco Hotel, Vinita on Jan. 6, 1884, by Rev. W. P. Haworth,
Mr. W. J. Turner and Miss Mollie Hufford, both of Missouri”,
followed slightly later by “R. M. Swain’s Saddle business opposite the San Francisco Hotel” (July 31, 1884, edition).
Additional early hotels in Vinita include the “Frisco Hotel, Vinita, Ind. Ter. / only First-Class House Between Parsons and Denison / Rates $2 Per Day / M. Edmondson, Manager” which appears as a small ad, along with another for “H. H. Edmonson /
Frisco Hotel, Vinita, I. T. / agent for Waters-Pierce Oil Company
of St. LOUIS, MO / dealing in Coal Oil, all Grades, Painter’s Oils,
all Kinds. All Lubricating Oils”, both appearing as short advertisements in the November 19, 1885 edition. The San Francisco
and Frisco hotels don’t appear later on, so may have ceased
operation prior to the use of “Forwarded By” markings documented for Cobb Hotel and the Western Hotel.
THE OKLAHOMA PHILATELIST 3rd Quarter 2013 Page 8
Figure 13 Hotel Vinita, Vinita, Okla., poste 1937. (Author’s collection)
One aspect considered for this article is perhaps only the largest hotels would see the advantage of justifying cost of acquir-
ing and using “Forwarded By” applied markings. If this is the
case, then these hotels should also be willing to pay the cost
of full or half-page advertisements placed in other advertising
media such as state directories or gazetteers. To check out this
possibility, I examined one directory dating from the Territorial
Period and several published shortly after Statehood.
Hotel Cobb in Vinita was one of only six hotels in Indian Territory to take out full page illustrated or similar type advertisements in McMaster’s 1901 Gazetteer. The other hotels/towns
to do so are: Hotel Foley in Eufaula; Hotel Gill, in South
McAlester; Hotel Miami in Miami; Claremore Hotel in
Claremore and the Hotel Gentry in Checotah.
Several additional hotels took out smaller size advertisements;
most however, simply paid for a single line which appears in
the town’s business listings and again under “Hotels” in the
summary index in the back of the publication. This was the case
for two of the four hotels in Vinita for 1901.
R. G. Dun and Co’s, July 1908, Oklahoma directory, dating
shortly after Statehood, only lists two hotels for Vinita; each
with the minimalist of information suggesting this directory is
not the best of sources. “Hotels” as businesses are listed for
“Green, Mrs. L. A.” and “James, O. L.” It is likely that the former is the same business location listed earlier in 1901 with A.
N. Green as propr., although perhaps by this date another family member had taken over the business. That the Western Hotel, Hotel Cobb and the Whitney hotel/restaurant do not appear in Dunn’s 1908 publication, could be viewed that these
businesses were not in operation after Statehood; however,
this is clearly not the case for The Cobb Hotel, an indication
that state directories are not all inclusive sources. This directory put Vinita’s population at 3,157.
The 1909-1910, R. L. Polk & Co’s State Gazetteer and Business
Directory lists five hotels in Vinita, with a population of 5,000:
“Cobb Hotel ($2 rate); Gateway Hotel (European style); Hotel
Green ($1.25); Rider Andy hotel; and, the Sequoyah Hotel
($1).”
Young & Co.’s 1911-1912 Business and Professional Directory
lists the following hotels in Vinita: Buffington House, C. E.
Green prop. (European plan) rates 75 cents to $1.00, 214 ½ S.
Wilson; Cobb Hotel, Robinson & James props., 103 S. Vann;
Hotel Green, Mrs. A. R. Love prop., 131 S. Vann; Sequay Hotel
(Sequoyah Hotel?), J. L. Bumgarner, 120 S. 1st; and The Rebecca, a rooming house at 225 N. Wilson. By this time Vinita’s population had either decreased slightly to 4,000 or the information presented is incorrect. This directory provided street
addresses for most businesses; something missing from other
sources.
Vinita, judicial seat of Craig County, was situated along the K C
Ft. Scott and Memphis Ry.; later known as the M K & T and St L
& SF RR. The other towns mentioned above also tended to be
locations with intersecting rail lines, such as the M K & T Ry.
and the Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf for South McAlester,
making these hotels likely candidates to have also utilized hotel
forwarded markings. As all of the forwarding markings documented so far appear to group together in the mid-1890s. It
would seem to be an indication that we need to concentrate on
searching for additional markings from other hotels dating
from this period.
However, Joe Crosby recently informed me (2013 personal
communication), that he has a forwarding “sticker” for the
“Loewen Hotel” in Enid, applied to a cover addressed from the
northeast, mailed in December, 1907, forwarding the cover on
to a hotel in El Reno. In this instance, this cover is a true
“forwarded” example.
Interestingly the other examples examined so far, are all instances where they were simply stamped “Forwarded By” beginning at the source, then to either the local post office (one
example) or train station where they entered the mail system
on an R.P.O. rail car for sorting and routing to their destinations.
For this article I am expanding on information previously presented by Joe Crosby for the Hotel Cobb in Vinita which has
two different forwarding examples. The Hotel Cobb full page
advertisement states that the hotel had fifty rooms, rates @
$2.00, with all modern improvements such as furnished rooms,
heated with steam, hot and cold baths, and everything convenient for the comfort of their guests. The hotel was also promoted as the “Headquarters of Commercial Men” and the nearest
hotel to the depot, with a porter available to meet all trains,
day or night (McMaster, 1901:262). Based on the advertisement, it would appear that this would be the prime location
selected by a traveling businessman not overly concerned
about business expenses. This apparently is the case, as the
Hotel Cobb lasted well past Statehood. Not the case with the
other Vinita hotels followed in this study.
Postcard views of two of the three Vinita competitor hotels
mentioned above, are included in this article and discussed
above for comparison. The Western Hotel is shown in Figure 8.
The Cobb Hotel initially, as well as in later years, was apparently the main contender (Figure 12). This hotel has its beginnings
dating some four years prior to the construction of the Western Hotel in 1894 and extending well past Statehood. According to The Indian Chieftain (Vol. 13, No 24, Ed. 1, Thursday February 14, 1895) the “Vinita Hotel” dates from 1895, or earlier.
the postcard view shown in Figure 13, however, is of a hotel
that dates well after Statehood. As the name Vinita Hotel
doesn’t appear again until well after Statehood, suggests the
two hotels are not the same business; simply an earlier namesake reappearing later on. When competing with the Western
Hotel, this hotel would not have appeared as such. The same is
true for the Cobb Hotel, as shown in Figure 11. Even though
this view was taken well after Statehood, the overall appearance of the hotel hadn’t changed much from its initial construction (compare this view with Figure 12).
Sources:
Crosby, Joe 2012 “The ‘Forwarded By’ Hotel Adams Markings”
The Oklahoma Philatelist, 2nd Quarter, 2012 Issue, pp. 1 & 4-6.
Crosby, Joe 2012 “The ‘Forwarded by Hotel Adams’ Markings”
THE OKLAHOMA PHILATELIST 3rd Quarter 2013 Page 9
Auxiliary Markings, Vol. IX, No. 4, No. 36, pp. 10-12.
Crosby, Joe 2013 “The ‘Forwarded By Hotel Cobb’ Markings”
Auxiliary Markings, Vol. X, No. 2, Issue 38, pp. 7-8, April 2013.
R. G. Dun & Company 1908 “THE MERCANTILE AGENCY REFERENCE BOOK (AND KEY) WITH A List of Banks and Bankers,
State Collection Laws, Maps, Etc.” July, 1908. R. G. Dun & Co.,
Dun Building, 290 Broadway, New York.
Helbock, Richard W. 1987. “Oklahoma Post Offices”, La Posta
Publications, Lake Oswego, Oregon.
“The Indian Chieftain”. The Chieftain Publishing Co., Vinita,
Indian Territory. D. M. Marrs, editor and publisher. Accessible
online by searching “The Library of Congress, Chronicling
America Collection” or the Oklahoma Historical Society’s site
at http://gateway.okhistory.org.
CONGRATUALTIONS TO RALPH DEBOARD
ON INTERNATIONAL LARGE VERMEIL MEDAL
Ralph DeBoard of Edmond is the first OPS member to ever receive a large vermeil medal in international stamp exhibition
competition. Ralph's outstanding five frame exhibit of "The
Postal History of Tahiti Through the Group Type Issue" received
the award at the Thailand 2013 World Stamp Exhibition in
Bangkok Aug. 2-8, 2013. Previously the highest award ever
achieved by an OPS member in FIP competition was a Silver.
Significantly, winning the large vermeil qualifies Ralph's exhibit
to be expanded to eight frames in future international shows,
including World Stamp Show New York 2016. Congratulations
Ralph !!!
“The Library of Congress, Chronicling America Collection”
online site for the Vinita, Indian Territory “The Indian
Chieftain” and other newspapers.
A Postcard Arrives More Than
40 Years After It Was Mailed
“The McMaster Publishing Co.’s GAZETTEER AND BUSINESS
DIRECTORY OF THE INDIAN TERRITORY 1901”. The McMaster
Publishing Co., Buffalo, N.Y.
A postcard sent nearly fifty years ago finally reaches its destination, shocking the man who sent it home so many years ago.
Oklahoma Historical Society’s online Oklahoma newspapers
site for the Vinita, Indian Territory The Indian Chieftain” and
other newspapers at http://gateway.okhistory.org.
R. L. Polk & Company 1909-1910 “R. L. POLK & COMPANY
GAZETTEERS AND BUSINESS DIRECTORY FOR 1909-1910.
Signorelli, Gaspare & Tom J. Caldwell 1966. “Indian Territory
Mail”. Private printing.
Young & Company 1911-1912 YOUNG & CO.’S BUSINESS AND
PROFESSIONAL DIRECTORY OF 1911- OKLAHOMA -1912. The
cities and towns of Oklahoma.” Young & Co. Pub., Atlanta, GA.
Printed by the Oklahoma Bank and Office Supply Co., Guthrie,
Oklahoma.
FROM THE EDITOR…..
In this issue of The Oklahoma Philatelist, we have another
excellent article on Indian Territory Hotel “Forward By” markings. This article is by Charles Wallis, and concerns the Hotel
Cobb and Hotel Western in Vinita, IT. An earlier article that
appeared in the 2nd Quarter 2012 issue of The Oklahoma Philatelist was about “Forward By” markings from the Hotel Adams in Muskogee, IT, written by Joe Crosby.
Bert Jacobson was just 13 when he took a trip with his father
and cousins to the East Coast and wrote his mother a postcard
to describe the fun he was having. At that time, in 1967,
Lyndon B. Johnson was president, the Beatles were groovy and
postage home cost 4 cents.
That postcard never reached Jacobson's mother -- not until this
week, that is, when the letter, dirtied and tattered, arrived at
his family's concrete business P.O. Box.
"It was an awesome trip," Jacobson recalled, according to local
outlet News9 in Oklahoma City, Okla.
Marilyn Hubbard, Bert's sister, told the station that their mother "wasn't surprised that Bert had written her a card, but she
was very surprised to took 46 years to get here."
Letters delivered decades late are often received with joy rather than frustration.
The Chicago Sun-Times reported in April 2012 that a postcard
mailed in 1958 had finally reached its intended addressee, 71year-old Scott McMurry. The postcard, originally sent by Scott
McMurry's mother, found its way to him with help from social
media.
The Tulsa Stamp Club should be congratulated for holding the
third annual Stamp Collecting for Kids, article on Page 1.
And in November, the New York Daily News reported that a
card mailed July 4, 1943, had at last made its way to the
(former) home of sisters Pauline and Theresa Leisenring of
Elmira, NY. Postal official Karen Mazurkiewicz told the Daily
News, “Generally, if old mail pieces are uncovered in a postal
facility, they are put in the mail with information about where
the items are found.”
Area Stamp Shows can be found on Pages 2 and 3.
(The above article was found on-line 2-12-2013, no source referenced)
See the short article on Page 10 congratulating Ralph DeBoard
for his exhibit winning an international large vermeil medal at
the Thailand 2013 World Stamp Exhibition in Bangkok.
THE OKLAHOMA PHILATELIST 3rd Quarter 2013 Page 10