ADAMS EXPRESS COMPANY RECEIPT DATED 1863

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Item Code: 998-464

Any student of the Civil War who has read soldier’s letters has encountered the name “Adams Express”. They were a lifeline between soldiers and their families at home. Used to send comforts, treats, and necessities from home to the soldier in camp as much as to send needed funds home after the an Army payday.

This is a blue sheet of paper approximately 8.5” x 5.5”. Pre-printed form with information written in ink. Wood cut along left edge shows packages and freight being moved by steam ship and train. Masthead “Adams Express Company, Freight and Money Express Forwarders”. Receipt is for sending $26 home from a Sergeant Mickle on August 24, 1863.

In 1839, Alvin Adams, a produce merchant ruined by the Panic of 1837, began carrying letters, small packages and valuables for patrons between Boston and Worcester, Massachusetts. Adams rapidly extended his territory to New York City, Philadelphia and other eastern cities. By 1847, he had penetrated deeply into the South, and by 1850 he was shipping by rail and stagecoach to St. Louis.

Adams Express was used by abolitionist groups in the 1840s to deliver anti-slavery newspapers from northern publishers to southern states. In 1855, the company was reorganized as the Adams Express Company. By the time the Civil War started, Adams had operations throughout the American South, operating as Southern Express, led by Henry B. Plant. The company served as paymaster for both the Union and Confederate sides.  [jet] [ph:L]

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