Just a gorgeous revenue document and cancel
I hid in the weeds for this one on eBay, and got it for a song. This document has it all: railroad, steamship/maritime, and a pair of wonderful cancels.
It is a receipt for ship transport via Merchants Navigation and Transportation Co. steamer ‘Commonwealth’ from Silas Pierce & Co. to the Boston & Providence Railroad. There is a crisp railroad receiving datestamp (unlisted in Tolman) at top right center, and then an absolutely superb ‘E.J. Smith’ script handstamp cancel tying the stamp to the document. The steamer ‘Commonwealth’ was destroyed in a fire in December of 1865:
Presumably E.J. Smith was associated with the steamer Commonwealth, but I can find no reference to such a name as ship’s captain or other officer.
