Chapter 9 cont. BUFFALO'S FIRST POSTMASTER The first postmaster of Buffalo was Captain Benjamin W. Clark, in 1836-7.  The office was kept in his residence; mail was carried on a line of hacks which ran from Dubuque to Burlington once a week.  The contractor was Ansel Briggs, afterward the first governor of Iowa.  Postage stamps were not then in use.  The postmaster had to collect on each letter, prices varying.  Less than three hundred miles the postage was twenty-five cents.  No envelopes being in use, there was wrapped around each letter a printed slip containing address and price.  To save postage and paper, it was the custom to write both ways on a page.  Letters were infrequent and precious.  A jubilee occurred when one was received in a family.  Often a letter would remain in the office a long time, waiting for the recipient to raise enough money to pay the postage. Debbie Clough G-erischer G-erischer Family Web Site http://gerischer.rootsweb.com/ Assistant CC, Iowa Gen Web, Scott County http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/ List Manager for: IASCOTT-L * G-erischer-L * D-encker-L Fitzpatirck-L * V-lerebome-L * Huntington-L * Otis-L * Algar-L EIGS-L * Pickens-L * McNab-L * Patris-L - Rankin-L