Treasury Department Enforces Congressional Provisions Just After Lincoln Assassination

This circular letter from Secretary of the Treasury Hugh McCulloch, issued just weeks after the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln and the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia, regards the delivery of mail to foreign ports. Steamships played a crucial role in transporting mail to recipients in foreign countries in a timely manner. However, some had begun to circumvent the U.S. postal service by simply giving their letters or packages directly to masters or other crewmembers on such vessels for delivery to foreign destinations without paying U.S. postage. Congress addressed this practice in the Act relating to postal Laws of March 3, 1865, which prohibited masters from receiving mail from sources other than the post office in their port of departure. It also charged Collectors of Customs with enforcing this law. The recipient of this copy was Charles Almy, the collector of the port of Fall River, Massachusetts.

[TREASURY DEPARTMENT.] Hugh McCulloch, Circular Letter, Printed Letter with Printed Signature, May 6, 1865. 1 p., 8ʺ x 10ʺ. Includes handwritten note in margin, "Recd May 12th 1865 C Almy" Pinholes in left margin for binding; very good.

Excerpt
"I transmit for your information and guidance the following extract from the Postal Law of March 3, 1865:
"Sec. 10. And be it further enacted, That no steamship or other vessel departing from the United States for a foreign port or ports, shall be permitted to receive on board, or convey any letters or letter packets originating in the United States, which have not been regularly posted at, and received from, the post office at the point of departure; and it shall be the duty of the collector or other officer of the port empowered to grant clearances of vessels, to require as a condition of clearance, from the master or commander of such steamship or vessel, an oath or affirmation that he has not received on board his ship or vessel, and has not under his care or within his control, and will not receive and convey any letters or letter packets addressed to a foreign country, except as hereinafter excepted, which have not been delivered to him from the post office at the port of departure...."

Hugh McCulloch (1808-1895) was born in Maine and attended Bowdoin College. After studying law in Boston, he began a practice in Fort Wayne, Indiana, in 1833. He worked as a cashier and manager in the Bank of Indiana and eventually served as president of it and its successor from 1835 to 1863. McCulloch served as the first Comptroller of the Currency from 1863 to 1865. President Lincoln appointed him as Secretary of the Treasury in March 1865, and he held that position until the end of President Johnson's administration in March 1869. After he left office, he spent six years in England as a member of a banking firm. McCulloch again served as Secretary of the Treasury at the end of President Chester A. Arthur's term from October 1884 to March 1885.

Charles Almy (1819-1886) was born in Rhode Island and began teaching school at age 17. He later opened a country store but soon moved to Boston, where he became an auction and commission merchant. He participated in the business of whaling in New Bedford, Massachusetts, until the Civil War. He served as Collector of Customs at Fall River, Massachusetts, from 1861 to 1865. He joined the insurance business in 1864 and continued in that work until his death. Originally a Democrat, he became a Free Soiler in 1848 and then a Republican. In 1880, 1881, and 1882, he was the Prohibition Party candidate for governor.

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