US #R1 – A 1¢ Express Revenue stamp.
On July 1, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Revenue Act of 1862 into law, to help fund the Civil War.
In 1861, the federal government faced a financial crisis. By June of that year, eleven Southern states had seceded and the Civil War broke out. In addition to the cost of funding a major conflict, the federal government also lost tariff revenue it had collected on goods imported by the South.
US #459 – Click the image to order this stamp in your choice of conditions.
On June 30, 1914, the US issued its very first stamp printed on the rotary press, US #459. It’s also the only imperforate US rotary press coil.
Prior to 1914, postage stamps were printed using the flat plate method. Sheets printed by this process contained 20 rows of stamps with 20 stamps in each row. The introduction of private perforating machines presented a problem. Workers had to paste strips of 20 stamps together, end to end, to form long coils before they could be fed through the machines. This was inefficient and costly.
US #CZ106 was issued nine months after Goethals’ death.
US Army general and civil engineer, George Washington Goethals was born on June 29, 1858, in Brooklyn, New York.
Born to Belgian immigrants, Goethals attended the College of the City of New York before receiving an appointment to West Point. After graduating second in his class in 1880, Goethals was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army Corps of Engineers.
US #1699 was issued for Maass’ 100th birthday.
Nurse Clara Louise Maass was born on June 28, 1876, in East Orange, New Jersey.
The oldest of nine children, Maass came from an impoverished family of German immigrants. When she was in elementary school, she took a job as a “mother’s helper.” While the job didn’t provide her with any money, she lived and ate with her employer’s family, alleviating some strain on her own family.
US #1554 from the American Poet Series.
Poet Paul Laurence Dunbar was born on June 27, 1872, in Dayton, Ohio.
Dunbar enjoyed writing from an early age, penning his first poem at the age of six and participating in his first public recital when he was nine. Dunbar’s mother learned to read so she could help him with his homework and read the Bible with him often.
US #3962 from the Distinguished Marines issue.
Lewis Burwell “Chesty” Puller was born on June 26, 1898, in West Point, Virginia.
As a child, Puller enjoyed listening to the tales of Civil War veterans and particularly idolized “Stonewall” Jackson. He had hoped to join in the Border War with Mexico in 1916, but he was too young and his mother wouldn’t consent to let him go.
