The Post Offices of Rhode Island
1883 Auburn, RI -
Registered Cover - Rarity Factor 6
(Scroll Down for
Background Information and history) |
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The
Auburn Post Office,
(Cranston Township -
Providence County) was
established
on April 29, 1878
under Postmaster
William F. Potter.
The Post Office was
disestablished on
August 31, 1893. On
September 1, 1928
The Cranston Branch
of Providence was established on this site and is currently in
operation. Although the cover does not have a registry stamp
in evidence; the number "9785"
and the 13 cents
in postage indicate that this was indeed a registered
letter. The cover is addressed to
William F. Potter
at the Chicago,
Illinois Post Office. William Potter was the
first postmaster
at Auburn
in 1878.
William F. Potter
was born in 1849
to Caleb
and Francis Potter
in Cranston, Rhode Island. The
1910 Cranston Census
lists him as a merchant and the
proprietor
of a Paint Store.
He was married to
Antoinette Potter and
they had two sons and a daughter listed as living with the
family in 1910; Clarence,
Ralph
and Francis.
William was the enumerator
for the 1880 Cranston
Census and his signature
is on each of the 32 pages for
Ward 2.
I could not find any information as to why he was in Chicago
in 1883.
The stamps on the cover
are a mix of the 1879 and 1881-1882 definitive issues as
follows:
One Cent
Ben Franklin -- Gray-Blue -- 1881/1882 issue --
Scott #206
Two Cent
Andrew Jackson -- Orange-Vermillion --
1879 issue -- Scott #183
Five Cent
Zachary Taylor -- Light-blue -- 1879
issue -- Scott #185
Five Cent
James Garfield -- Yellow-Brown -- 1882
issue -- Scott #205
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