Statues on Postage Rates for the united States of America.
Statues on Mail 37th Congress, Sess. III, 1863, pg 705.
12 Stat. Ch. 71 Sec. 23. That the rate of postage on all letters not transmitted through the mails of the United States, but delivered through the post-office or its carriers, commonly described as local or drop letters, and not exceeding one half ounce in weight, shall be uniform at two cents, and an additional rate for each half ounce or fraction thereof of additional weight, to be in all cases prepaid by postage stamps affixed to the envelope of such letters, but no extra postage or carrier's fee shall hereafter be charged or collected upon letters delivered by carriers, not upon letters collected by them for mailing or for delivery.
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Statues at Large
Statues at Large - Volumes 1 thru 18, pages & index to the volumes
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Volume 12: 36th-37th, 1859-1863 This is the volume where I found much about establishing postage rates.
Title Page | List of Public Acts |
List of Private Acts | List of Treaties | Appendix--Proclamations | Index to this Vol. 12
Post Roads listed at: https://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=020/llsl020.db&recNum=4
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West Virginia Post Roads on pages 313 - 321
Post-Offices and Postmasters
Postage
Postage-Stamps and Envelopes
Postal Conventions