For the Good of Others - Postal History Sunday

Welcome to Postal History Sunday, featured weekly on the Genuine Faux Farm blog and the GFF Postal History blog.  If you take this link, you can view every edition of Postal History Sunday, starting with this one (the most recent always shows up at the top).

I got out of the habit of keeping track of how many Postal History Sunday entries I have offered once I reached the 100 blog mark.  But, someone asked me how many I was at now and that got me curious.  It turns out that this is entry number 114, which is a good, healthy number.  And now that we've gotten that bit of trivia out of the way, let's share a little postal history and maybe we can all learn something new today!

This time we're going to start with a folded letter that was mailed in New York on August 28, 1858, to William Rathbone, Jr in Cumloden near Newton Stewart, Scotland.  This is one of those times where much of the postal history story can be easily read because the markings are all clear and the hand writing is not difficult to decipher.  That is why an example like this one is desirable, we don't have to go cross-eyed trying to read what is there this time around.

The foreign mail clerk at the New York Post Office accepted this letter which bears two black, 12-cent postage stamps to pay for the 24 cents in postage required.  The clerk applied a red circular grid marking to deface the stamps and make it hard for someone to try to re-use them.  They also put the big circular marking that reads "New York Am Pkt 3" at the top center.  Once that was done, they slipped this folded letter into the mailbag that was bound for Liverpool on the trans-Atlantic steamship named the "City of Washington," and it stayed in that mailbag until it got to Liverpool on September 9.

Once it entered the British postal system in Liverpool, it was taken north to the town of Newton Stewart, where a marking on the verso tells us it was received at the local post office on September 10.  There are no postmarks that tell us when it was taken to Cumloden, but it was likely on that same day.

Everything lines up nicely.  A twelve day transit from the origin to the destination was pretty normal for a letter mailed in 1858.  The City of Washington is known to have sailed for the Inman Line, which had a contract with the United States to carry the mail.  We also have a docket at the top left identifying that ship AND the New York marking indicates that the ship to carry it was an "American Packet."

And finally, we can locate the recipient, William Rathbone Jr, as having purchased a property at Cumloden, near Newton Stewart, in the Spring of 1858.  But, before we talk more about this individual, let's look at some of the surrounding postal history.

Postal Treaty between the US and the British

A postal treaty had been signed in 1849 between the US and the British that set the conditions for the exchange of mail between the two countries.  This postal convention was still in effect at the time this letter was mailed in 1858 and it stated that the cost of mailing a simple letter was 24 cents (1 shilling in the United Kingdom).  To be a "simple letter," the item could not weigh more than 1/2 ounce.  This agreement would remain in force until the end of 1867.

The United Kingdom was the most popular destination for mail that crossed the Atlantic Ocean from the United States, but at the time this letter was mailed there were no 24 cent stamps issued.  In fact, the 12-cent stamp was the highest denomination postage stamp issued by the US Post Office.  It was not until July of 1860 that a 24-cent postage stamp would be issued in response to the increased demand for letter mail to the United Kingdom.

And this is what a simple letter using that new 24-cent stamp looks like.  This one was mailed from New York to London in September of 1860.  

This particular design would only be in use for about one year.  The event of the Civil War in the United States presented a problem for the US Post Office.  To prevent representatives of the seceded states from using stocks of US postage for their benefit, a new design was placed in use in August of 1861.

Shown above is an example of the newly designed 24-cent stamp on a letter mailed in 1862 from Boston to London.  If you are not someone who does much with philately (collecting and studying postage stamps), you might have a difficult time seeing the difference.  Perhaps the easiest way you can train your eyes is to look for the number "24" at top left and top right on the 1861 issue. One of the requirements placed on these new postage stamp designs was that the value of the postage stamp should be represented by numerals and words, whereas the previous issue only showed words.

This design would be in use until a new 24 cent stamp was put in use in 1869.

Who was William Rathbone, Jr?

Let's bring you back to our original letter that was sent from New York City to Newton Stewart in Scotland.  The recipient was one William Rathbone, Jr. (1819 - 1902), the sixth of a line of William Rathbones from a family of Rathbones that were instrumental in the growth of Liverpool as a major trans-Atlantic port of trade.  

So, this was a piece of correspondence to a person of some prominence and who had reasonably significant means at his disposal. This should should not surprise us because, first of all, those with significant business interests and/or power were the most likely to be corresponding with individuals outside the country via the postal service in the 1850s.  But, even more important, it would be these people who would be most likely to SAVE the envelopes and folded letters for records (and posterity) AND keep them in a excellent condition. 

photo circa 1880 - from Wikimedia commons

Rathbone did, in fact, hold a position with the family business until 1885, but he also had a career in British politics from 1868 to 1895.  He apparently played a role in the formation of the University of Liverpool and the University College of North Wales.  But, this is not what drew my attention for this particular individual.  I found the book William Rathbone, a Memoire online and was drawn to his work with the nursing profession.

If you don't want to read all of the quote below from that text, the idea that stood out for me was that Rathbone felt wealth and business success were actually a means to accomplishing public and philanthropic works. He felt it was a moral imperative to use acquired power to aid others.

"In  deciding  how  to  spend  his  income,  he  thought, 
a  young  man  should  consider  not  only  the  immediate 
objects  of  his  expenditure,  but  also  its  effect  on  his 
character.  Saving  and  giving  are  both  habits.  It 
often  happens  that  a  man  of  naturally  generous 
nature  is  obliged  while  he  is  young  to  work  hard 
and  to  be  economical.  He  yields  to  this  necessity, 
hoping  when  he  has  made  a  fortune  to  use  it  for  the 
good  of  others.  But  by  the  time  success  comes 
he  has  allowed  the  saving  habits  of  his  youth  to 
master  him  so  completely  that  he  is  affected  by  a 
sort  of  "  pecuniary  paralysis."  This  very  frequently 
befalls  even  men  who  while  poor  have  been  generous 
in  giving  on  the  modest  scale  suitable  to  their 
means,  so  that  it  is  exceptional  to  find  a  man  who 
has  grown  very  wealthy  without  becoming  less 
generous  as  his  wealth  increased.  It  follows,  then, 
that  a  man  who  would  escape  this  moral  disease 
must  give  something  for  the  sake  of  practice,  even 
out  of  small  means,  and  as  his  income  swells  (and 
this  was  the  point  he  laid  most  stress  on)  he  must 
increase  not  only  the  amount,  but  the  proportion  of 
it  to  be  devoted  to  public  objects." (pages 121-122)

In 1859, an event occurred that provided focus to Rathbones's philanthropic efforts when his wife, Lucretia, passed away after an illness.  Since they had means, a nurse had been secured to aid during that illness.  

"His  wife  had  been  attended  during  her  last 
illness  by  a  nurse,  Mary  Robinson,  whose  skill  had 
done  much  to  ease  her.  Seeing  how  much  differ- 
ence trained  nursing  could  make,  even  in  a  home 
where  every  comfort  and  appliance  that  affection 
could  suggest  was  provided,  William  Rathbone 
began  to  think  what  illness  must  mean  in  the 
homes  of  the  poor,  where  comforts,  appliances, 
and  skill  were  alike  wanting.  He  resolved  to  try 
an  experiment.  He  asked  Nurse  Robinson  to 
engage  herself  to  him  for  three  months,  to  nurse 
poor  patients  in  their  own  homes  in  a  certain 
district  of  Liverpool.  She  was  provided  with  the 
most  necessary  appliances,  and  arrangements  were 
made  for  supplying  such  nourishment  and  medical 
comforts  as  might  be  required  to  make  her  nursing 
effective.  After  a  month  had  passed,  she  came  to 
her  employer  in  tears,  and  asked  to  be  released 
from  the  rest  of  her  engagement.  The  amount 
of  misery  she  had  to  see  was,  she  said,  more  than 
she  could  bear." (pages 156-157)

To make a long story a bit less long, Rathbone was able to prevail upon nurse Mary Robinson to continue with her efforts.  After three more months, she proclaimed that she would not return to her prior nursing position and found that this service was her calling.  She had seen the good a trained health care provider could bring for those with less means.  People who would have died, lived instead.  People who struggled with ill health found healing.  Families were better able to cope with difficult situations because they were not also attempting to care for ailing family members.  

This was all because skilled nursing, with appropriate supplies and tools, had been provided.  This motivated Rathbone to develop a system where skilled nursing could be accessible to people, regardless of income, in their homes throughout the United Kingdom.

Rathbone consulted with Florence Nightingale and then pursued the construction of a training facility in Liverpool for nurses.  The school was established in 1862 and this model was used in other districts (district nursing system) throughout the United Kingdom.  Rathbone continued to work to improve health care and helped establish the Queen's Nursing Institute (1887).

from wikimedia commons

This is probably the barest of summaries outlining Rathbones efforts in this area.  But, we do have access to the memoir written in 1905 by Eleanor Rathbone, his daughter, if you want to learn more.  And, as a side note, Eleanor was also a social reformer and politician, working for women's rights and support for refugees. 

Contrast and Comparison

It is interesting to me to explore the motivations of an individual who was predisposed towards a philanthropic lifestyle as William Rathbone, Jr appeared to be.  In his case, the focus for much of his heralded works came after tragedy, the loss of his wife in 1859 - even if it didn't precipitate his involvement in charitable works.  The experience of dealing with Lucretia's illness and death provided him with the duel revelation that skilled nursing could do much to alleviate suffering and the knowledge that he was privileged to receive that help when he or his family needed it.  He recognized that most others were not in that same position and sought to do something about it.

The August Postal History Sunday titled Quarantine! focused on Dr. John Swinburne, another individual who was from a family in a privileged position.  Again, Swinburne appears to have subscribed to the idea that his position afforded him the opportunity to perform public service - using his medical knowledge to serve as a volunteer army surgeon in the Civil War.  He was then appointed as the Health Officer of the Port of New York, in charge of the quarantine facilities there.  He would later volunteer his surgical and organizational expertise during the Siege of Paris and later set up a free clinic in New York that served many who could not afford medical care.

Unlike Rathbone, I detected no specific personal event that served as a revelation and turning point for Swinburne.  Yet, he was clearly motivated to help those who seemed to need it.

Then there is the case of Amicie Lebaudy, which we looked at in Business, Madness and Social Betterment back in March of 2021.

Unlike Rathbone and Swinburne, the Lebaudy family apparently saw business simply as a means to gaining power and wealth.  Amicie Lebaudy was an exception to this rule.  She was able to carve out a space to perform philanthropic work and do some writing while her husband still lived by using a pseudonym.  But, she was hesitant to place the name "Lebaudy" on her charitable works because she said that "Lebaudy was synonymous with money ill-gotten."

However, like Rathbone, the death of a son from tuberculosis seems to have been a turning point that provided focus.  After her husband's death (and her other son, Mad Jacques had also died), Amicie felt free to create Groupe de Maisons Overieres, which still creates affordable housing for those without means to acquire suitable homes otherwise. She was also involved in providing medical care and provided funds for new hospital facilities.

All three of these people were, I am certain, imperfect and the solutions they championed to help others were also flawed.  And yet, I cannot help but have the greatest admiration for each of them and all others who find within themselves - whether they have significant wealth or not - the desire to provide service...

for the good of others.

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Thank you again for visiting me today as we let postal history items lead us to stories that can be very interesting.  I am hopeful that you were entertained and that, maybe, you learned something new.

Have a great remainder of your day and a fine week to come!