I got this on another newsgroup and found it of interest so I'm passing it along. Terry Listers: > I found this article in "A Family Tree" a Scottish Newspaper published > bimonthly about anything and everything Scottish and Genealogical. > Editor is Beth Gay, DTJ, JSA, Scot. > > Old newspapers are filled with a wealth of genealogical information, > but some of these items may be misleading. One often comes across a > list of people who had letters waiting at the post office, under the > heading of "Unclaimed Letters." An assumption could be that many of > these people had died or moved away from the area. This is not always > true. Here are some things to know that will help you not assume > what may not be true. > Postage on letters, until 1845, was, for a distance not exceeding 20 > miles, 6.5 cents; over 30 miles and not exceeding 150 miles, 11.5 cents; > over 150 miles and not exceeding 500 miles, 20 cents; and 25 cents for > all distances over 500 miles. > In 1845, a partial reduction was made by Congress and in July 1851, > letter postage was reduced to 3 cents per half ounce for all distances. > A three-cent stamp and a three-cent coin for convenience in paying > postage was at that time ordered by Congress. > During this time, postage for these letters was paid by the > receiver. > Times were hard and money was precious, so perhaps there wasn't enough > money to pay the postage. Considering that these hardworking people > sometimes lived miles from town and didn't go to town every day or even > every week..or even every month. So, the letters remained at the post > office until the next time a trip to town was planned. > > Hope this will help some of you. > Betty Brinsfield Hughson > > > ==== LOWER-DELMARVA-ROOTS Mailing List ==== > Don't miss the MDGenWeb site - > Maryland's onramp to the USGenWeb Project! > http://www.rootsweb.com/~mdgenweb > > > > > >