Lincoln, Abraham, 69, 113–14, 139, 142–43, 147, 149, 153, 155, 158, 238
as postmaster, 3, 108
Lindbergh, Charles, 227
Little, Feramorz, 123
London Times, 149
Long, Armistead L., 156
Long, Mary Sumner, 155–56
Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth, 26
Louisiana Purchase, 42
Lovelace, Francis, 15, 16
Maddux, Hattie, 165
Madison, James, 1, 11, 23, 28, 31, 36, 39, 40, 61, 63, 64
magazines, 89, 208–10
mail, 11
airmail, 4, 221–29, 233–36
classification of, 152, 207–10, 257, 259
express, 66, 71
first class, 152, 207, 259, 267, 268, 276, 278, 285
home delivery of, see home delivery
international, 87, 152–53, 170–74
opening of, 41
origin of word, 12
registered, 152, 166, 182, 239
rural delivery of, see rural postal service
Saturday delivery of, 277–78
Sunday delivery of, 73–74
undeliverable, 41, 65, 144, 154–55
mailboxes, 149–52
mail carriers, 108, 150–51, 158, 193, 252, 279
female, 108, 196, 237–38, 263
RFD, 189, 191, 196
Mail Fraud Act, 210
mail order, 189, 190, 205
mail-related crime, 72, 157, 166–67, 210–11
theft, 41–42, 45, 65, 72, 157, 166–67
Majors, Alexander, 130–32, 134, 137
Manifest Destiny, 113–14, 116, 122, 171
Marcy, William, 68
Marshall, John, 47
Martin, Polly, 111–12, 177
Maryland Journal and Baltimore Advertiser, 109, 110
Mason, James, 156
Massachusetts General School Law, 17–18
Mather, Cotton, 18
McDonnell, P. J., 163
McGee, Henry, 249
McKean, James, 196–97
McLean, John, 64–70, 129, 266
McNary-Watres Act, 233
mechanization, 244–48, 271
Medary, Jacob, 111
Meister, C. C., 168
Mexican-American War, 85, 120, 130
Mexico, 194
Meyer, George, 192
Miles, Pliny, 82–83, 150
military mail, 264–65
in Civil War, 145, 147–48, 150
in World War II, 4, 237
Military Postal Service Agency, 265
Miller, Bronco Charlie, 138
Mills, Robert, 77, 202
Miracle on 34th Street, 214–15
money orders, 152, 182, 203
monopolies, 4, 83, 121, 184, 187, 189, 205
post office, 83, 86, 87, 138, 150, 169, 244, 279, 280
railroad, 169, 170, 189
Monroe, James, 64
Monroe Doctrine, 113
Moore, Ann, 111
moral issues, 73–77
Mormons, 43, 130, 136
Morse, Samuel F. B., 79, 84–85, 185
Mott, Lucretia, 95
Myers, Isaac, 157
naming of communities, 105–6
Nast, Thomas, 69
National Alliance of Postal and Federal Employees, 183, 199–200
National Postal Museum, 27, 100, 101, 215, 236
National Republicans, 67–70, 74
National Road, 60, 62
National Telegraph Act, 185
Native Americans, 9–10, 16, 18, 54, 68, 114, 123, 127, 199
Pony Express and, 131, 133, 136
Whitmans and, 117–19
Navy, U.S., 171, 172
Neale, Thomas, 15
“Neither snow nor rain . . . ,” 12, 214
Nell, William Cooper, 157
Nero (dog), 165
New, Harry, 227
Newcomb, H. T., 175
New Deal, 229–32, 250
New-England Courant, 19
New England Valentine Company, 98
Newson, Joel, 193–94
newspapers, 1, 18–21, 31, 38–40, 44, 52, 63–64, 71, 73, 79, 81, 88–89, 91, 142, 144, 174, 207, 208, 210, 239
postmasters and, 69
New York Associated Press, 185
New York Herald, 127
New York Journal of Commerce, 75
New-York Mercury, 21
New York Post, 85
New York Times, 82, 155, 157, 197
New-York Tribune, 81, 89
Nixon, Richard, 250, 253, 255, 256
O’Brien, Lawrence, 249–50
obscene materials, 211–12
Office of Instructions and Mail Depredations, 42, 65, 72
Office of Technology Assessment, 267–68
Office of the Inspector General, 283
Official Register of the United States, 106
Ohio, 53–56
Old State House (Boston), 21
Oleson, Clifton P. “Ole,” 223
Olmsted, Frederick Law, 145, 201
Oregon Territory, 116, 117, 120, 122–23, 171
Oregon Trail, 113, 115, 117, 119
Ormsby, Waterman, 127
Osgood, Samuel, 31–32, 110
Overland Mail Company, 3, 124–27, 130, 131, 137, 172
Ovington, Earle, 222
Oxbow Route, 124–25
Owenites, 43
Owney (dog), 165
Pacific, 172
Pacific Northwest, 122
packages, 4, 205–7, 265
Page, E. P., 194
Palfrey, John, 157
Palladium, 44
Palmer, A. Mitchell, 219
Palmer Raids, 143, 219
Panic of 1837, 80, 113
Parcel Post, 4, 205–7, 218, 284, 285
Parker, Samuel, 118
Paul, Mary, 79
Payne, Henry, 197
Peary, Robert, 223
Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act, 176, 192–93
Penn, William, 15
Pennsylvania Gazette, 7–8, 11
penny post, 150
Perea, Francisco, 197
Philadelphia, Pa., 8–9, 15, 19
philately, 99–101, 191, 262
Civil War and, 146
Farley and, 233
FDR and, 232, 233, 238
inverts and, 228
photocopiers, 269
Pickering, Daniel, 145
Pickering, Timothy, 41, 42, 45, 141
Pinckney, Charles, 49
Poinsett, Joel Roberts, 62
politics, 44, 73, 77
Polk, James, 113, 122
Pony Express, 3, 58, 129–40, 160, 161, 172, 235, 255
horses of, 132–33, 136
riders of, 133–34
Poor Richard’s Almanack, 8
Populist Party, 187
pornography, 211, 246
Post, Louis, 212
postage, 2, 32, 33, 38–39, 53, 80–82, 85, 179, 272
categorization of rates, 152, 207–10, 257, 259
cheap postage movement, 81–83, 149, 151
increases in, 218, 243, 273
letters and, 92–94
on newspapers, 88–89
privatization and, 280–81
reforms in, 87–89, 102
stamps, see stamps
taxation and, 18
Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA), 271–72, 276, 282
postal employees, 2, 69, 149, 151, 286
African A
merican, 3, 153–54, 195, 198–200, 238, 248–49, 263
gag order and, 193
labor unions and, 193, 200, 252–53, 276, 277
mail carriers, see mail carriers
postmasters, see postmasters
spoils system and, 2, 68–71, 156, 192, 198, 243, 249, 256–57
strike by, 252–53
wages and benefits of, 252–53, 258, 271–72, 276
women, 3, 108–11, 153–56, 195–97, 237–38, 263–64
postal inspectors, 157, 166, 167, 198, 210
Postal Manual, 242
Postal Obscenity Statute, 211–12
Postal Policy Act, 250
Postal Regulatory Commission, 272, 278
Postal Reorganization Act, 255–59, 268, 271
postal routes, 182
transcontinental, 3, 112, 113–28, 139
roads, 31–35, 45, 53, 61, 104, 105, 112
see also transportation
Postal Savings System, 4, 204, 206, 207, 218, 284
Postal Service Fund, 257
postal services, 11–13, 31, 32
definitions of, 203–5, 221, 271, 272, 282
speed of, 65–66
universal, 35, 286
postcards, 212–13
PosteCS, 270
postmasters, 3, 17, 20, 31, 32, 45, 72, 93, 109, 168, 190
African American, 156–57
Lincoln as, 3, 108
newspapers and, 69
rural, 107–8, 193–94, 196
women as, 108–11, 155–56, 195–96, 263
postmasters general, 20, 66, 88, 182, 185, 246, 267, 273
as cabinet members, 70, 256
telegraph and, 84–85
see also specific people
Postmasters Supply Company, 107
Post Office Acts:
of 1792, 34–42, 45, 53
of 1836, 72, 76–77
of 1845, 86
of 1851, 86
Post Office Department, 4, 26–27, 35–36, 66–67, 260
crises in, 2, 77, 79–81, 86, 89–90, 240–43, 248–50, 275
divisions of, 182–83
golden age of, 181–200, 201
mechanization of, 244–48, 271
as monopoly, 83, 86, 87, 138, 150, 169, 244, 279, 280
reforms of, 86–89, 102
reorganization of, 250–54
as self-supporting, 38–39, 189
transformed into USPS, 255–56, 273
post offices, 31–35, 53, 54, 56, 59–60, 66, 70, 101–2, 104, 105, 112, 151, 168, 182, 191, 193, 240, 246, 276–77, 279, 286
as addresses, 105
architecture of, see architecture
Chicago, shutdown of, 4, 248–49
decommissioning of, 191
in Dutchess County, 230–32
general store, 3, 106, 108, 190
modernization and expansion of services at, 283–84
murals in, 230–32
railway, 159–67
robberies of, 167
rural, 106–7, 174
stand-alone, 102
post riders, 16–17, 55–56, 66, 70
Pony Express, see Pony Express
Prang, Louis, 98
printers, 20
Private Express Statutes, 86, 280
private companies, 2, 81, 86, 121, 125, 150, 169, 189, 227–28, 277, 279–82
American Express, 125, 205
American Letter Mail Company, 83–84
California Penny Post Company, 121–22
FedEx, 260, 281
Hale & Co., 83
Pony Express, see Pony Express
Private Express Statutes and, 86, 280
United Parcel Service, 260, 270, 281
Wells Fargo, 125–27, 131, 138, 139, 205, 206
Progressive Era, 179, 183, 184, 188, 198–99, 203, 204, 206, 209, 214, 216, 217, 220, 242
Publick Occurrences, both Forreign and Domestick, 18
publishing, 18–21, 31, 52, 209
books, 89, 207, 209
magazines, 89, 208–10
newspapers, see newspapers
Putnam, Rufus, 54
railroads, 3, 57–59, 80, 87, 89, 129, 159–60, 167–70, 178, 183, 184, 214, 218, 221, 229, 241
Fast Mail trains, 161
fees of, 169
as monopoly, 169, 170, 189
Railway Mail Service (RMS), 2, 159–67, 182, 183, 199, 225, 229, 235, 248
railway post office (RPO), 159–67, 241
train robbers and, 166–67
transcontinental, 121, 137, 139, 159
Randall, Jim, 135
Rattlesnake Dick, 127
Rawdon, Wright, Hatch & Edson, 101
Reader’s Digest, 259
Reagan, John Henninger, 143, 153
Reagan, Ronald, 269
Ream, Vinnie, 155
Reconstruction, 153, 156, 158, 198
religion, 73–74
Republicans, 76, 148, 149, 153, 156, 173, 187, 188, 192, 194, 198, 200, 204, 218, 220, 233, 234, 277, 279
Revere, Paul, 26
Richardson, D. S., 194
Richey, Helen, 238
Rickenbacker, Eddie, 234
roads, 48, 60–62, 191
postal, 31–35, 45, 53, 61, 104, 105, 112
Roberts, Bolivar, 135, 136
Robey, William, 228
Rockne, Knute, 235
Roebuck, Alvah, 205
Roff, Harry, 135
Roman Empire, 12
Roosevelt, Franklin D., 223, 229–34
philately and, 232, 233, 238
Roosevelt, Theodore, 187, 193, 197, 198, 210
Roughing It (Twain), 126
rural Americans, 178–79, 200, 201, 208, 279
rural postal service, 106–7, 174
postmasters, 107–8, 193–94, 196
Rural Free Delivery (RFD), 4, 188–92, 196, 204–7, 213, 218, 276, 284
Rush, Benjamin, 1, 23, 28, 31, 36–40, 47–48, 63, 64, 77, 89
Russell, William, 130–31, 137, 172
Sabbatarians, 73–75
Sanger, Alice B., 263–64
Santa Claus, 214–15
Santa Fe Trail, 115
Scheele, Carl, 107
Scott, Dred, 148
Sears catalogs, 205, 207
Second Great Awakening, 43, 67, 75, 116
“Seven Years in the Boston Post Office,” 69
Seven Years War, 7
Seward, William, 149
Shahn, Ben, 232
Shahn, Bernarda, 232
Shaw, George Bernard, 211
Sheridan, Philip, 177
Shirley, William, 11
Shook, E. H., 182–83
Simmons, James, 82
Sitting Bull, 139
slavery, 3, 43, 44, 50, 67, 68, 75–77, 122, 141–42, 148, 197
abolitionists and, 2, 73, 75–77, 87, 95, 142
Smith, Adam, 12, 24
Smith, Charles Emory, 187
Smith, Dean, 224
Smith, Jedediah, 115
Smith, John, 22
Smith, Joseph, 136
Smithsonian Institution, 106, 107, 239
Smithsonian National Postal Museum, 181
soldiers, 264–65
Civil War, 145, 147–48, 150
World War II, 4, 237
Sons of Liberty, 24
Soule, John Babson Lane, 120
South-Carolina Gazette, 109
Spalding, Eliza, 117
Spalding, Henry, 117, 119
Speed Mail, 245
spoils system, 2, 68–71, 85, 156, 192, 198, 243, 249, 256–57
Spooner, Lysander, 83–84, 87, 121, 122, 280
stagecoaches, 49–53, 55, 57, 59–61, 70, 87, 126–27, 129, 137, 159, 221, 241
Concord, 126
of Overland Mail Company, 3, 124–27
robberies of, 127–28
Stamp Act, 23–24
stamp collecting, see philately
stamps, 93, 95, 213–14, 261–62, 273
Air Mail Service, 228
Civil War and, 146–47
commemorative, 213–14, 232, 238, 262, 263
counterfeit, 146
design of, 100, 146–47, 213, 262–63
FDR and, 232
first American, 88
Franklin on, 88, 100–101
invert, 228
letters and, 92–94
Washington on, 88, 100–101, 147, 232
Stanton, Charles I., 228
Stanton, Elizabeth Cady, 95
Star Route, 87, 111–12, 174–78, 190
Star Route Scandal, 175–76
Stavers, John, 48–49
steamships, 57, 62, 159, 170–74
Steele, Ian, 14
Stephens, Clarence, 176
Stewart, William Drummond, 117
Stinson, Katherine, 224–25
Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 157
Strange, Jackie, 264
Stuart, Gilbert, 88
Summerfield, Arthur, 243–47, 251, 263, 266, 275
Sumner, Charles, 170
Sumner, Edwin V., 139, 156
Sun Yat-sen, 238
Supreme Court, 40, 47, 69, 148, 212
Sutton, David, 55
Taft, William Howard, 187, 204
Tappan, Arthur, 75
Tappan, Lewis, 75
taxes, 10, 18, 23–24
Taylor, Zachary, 93
telegraph, 3, 65, 79, 84–86, 137, 139, 184–86, 218–19, 266, 284
telephone, 218–19, 239–40
Terre Haute Express, 120
Thompson, Jeff, 135
Timothy, Elizabeth, 109
Timothy, Lewis, 109
Titanic, 236
Tocqueville, Alexis de, 2, 59–62, 63–64, 81, 126
Todd, Alexander, 121
Totten, James S., 55
Towards Postal Excellence, 251
transcontinental mail service, 3, 112, 113–28, 139
transportation, 51–52, 57, 62, 87, 129, 191, 218, 241, 244
see also railroads; roads; stagecoaches; steamships
Treasury Department, 31, 39, 66–67, 70–72, 80, 157, 213, 230, 250, 272, 282
Office of Construction, 102–3, 202
Trousdale, Leonidas, 186
Truman, Harry, 108
Turner, Nat, 76
Twain, Mark, 103, 126, 133, 139–40, 184
United Parcel Service (UPS), 260, 270, 281
United States:
Early Republic, 1–2, 42–44, 47, 53, 67, 69–70, 276
establishment of, 1, 29–30