HAWAII, 1851, 5c Blue (2). Type I--the lefthand position in the setting of two--full margins, deep shade and clear impression, corner crease and small tears, but free of any repairs or serious faults, tied by bold 7-bar grid cancel, red “Honolulu * Hawaiian-Islands * Oct. 4” (1852) circular datestamp on bluish folded cover to “Mr. John Camwells[?], Care Mr. Leml. Gooding, Portland Me., U.S. America”, Lahaina forwarder's red handstamp “FORWARDED Via S. FRANCISCO/By G. D. GILMAN./LAHAINA.” in three lines within truncated frame, surrounded by large outer frame of handstamping device, black “San Francisco Cal. 1 Nov.” circular datestamp, “12” due handstamp (10c U.S. collect rate plus 2c ship letter fee), some ink smears on cover have been lightened, part of side panel removed

ONE OF THE FINEST OF THE EIGHT AVAILABLE COVERS BEARING A SINGLE 5-CENT HAWAIIAN MISSIONARY STAMP AND ONE OF TWO RECORDED MISSIONARY COVERS WITH A FORWARDER’S HANDSTAMPED MARKING.

Ten 5c Missionary covers are recorded in our census and the Gregory census. Included in this total are the Dawson 2c/5c cover and the 5c cover acquired by the Smithsonian National Postal Museum in the Honolulu Advertiser sale, leaving eight 5c covers for collectors. Of the 28 recorded intact Missionary covers, only two were handstamped by forwarders: the Porter & Ogden cover (ex Honolulu Advertiser, offered in the 2013 Rarities of the World sale) and the G. D. Gilman cover offered here. This is the only recorded example of this “G. D. Gilman” handstamp.

Gorham D. Gilman (1822-1909) was a prominent Hawaiian businessman who returned to the U.S. in 1862 and served as Hawaiian Consul in Boston. After applying the forwarder marking, Gilman mailed this cover at Lahaina. It was datestamped at Honolulu on October 4 (1852), the same day as the Dawson cover and a 13c Missionary cover (3-I-COV-142). All of the October 4 mail was probably carried from Honolulu to San Francisco on the Mary A. Jones, which cleared customs on October 4, 1852 (The Friend, October 8), and sailed the following day. The ship arrived in San Francisco on October 26, after a reported journey of 21 days (Daily Alta California, October 27).

According to the Daily Alta California (October 27, 1852), the PMSC Northerner and California were brought down from Benecia in “newly painted” condition on October 26 and 27, respectively. The Northerner was scheduled to depart on Saturday, October 30, and the California on Monday, November 1. This and the 13c Missionary cover with the October 4 Honolulu datestamp have San Francisco November 1 datestamps, whereas the Dawson cover with the U.S. 3c 1851 pair has an October 27 San Francisco datestamp. The two Missionary covers without U.S. stamps affixed required an extra step to account for U.S. postage and the ship letter fee. After making the necessary accounting entries, they were datestamped and bagged for the Panama departure. The November 1 date was inserted into the San Francisco datestamp to correspond with the sailing of the California, but the actual application of the marking could have occurred days earlier.

The California arrived on November 16. All of the mail was carried across the isthmus to Aspinwall, and from there it left on the U.S. Mail Steamship Company’s Georgia, which departed Aspinwall on November 18 and arrived in New York on November 28, after stopping at Kingston, Jamaica. According to the Weekly Herald report, the Georgia arrived in New York with the largest load of California gold ever transported. The Georgia was under the command of the famous American naval officer, Admiral David Dixon Porter, who at the time held the rank of lieutenant and worked as a civilian for the U.S. Mail Steamship Company.

Ex George H. Worthington (pencil code “3/15/93 Scott Auction UHN SS”), Alfred F. Lichtenstein, Frank Godden, Emmerson C. Krug, Adm. Frederic R. Harris, Charles F. Meroni, David Golden, Guido Craveri, Tito Giamporcaro and “Lake Shore.” Red “Kohler” handstamp at bottom right.

Siegel Census No. 2-I-COV-70. Gregory Census No. 5c-3 (Figure 19-10). With 1994 Philatelic Foundation certificate.

For an introduction to the Hawaiian Missionaries: http://siegelauctions.com/2013/1045/Missionaries.pdf

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