To learn more about plans to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the McDonald Territory Secession attempt, visit http://tinyurl.com/McD2011

Keywords: McDonald Territory, McDonald County, Local post, private dispatch, private despatch, philatelic, private carriage of mail, propaganda, cinderella, stamp, MacDonald Territory, MacDonald County, Postal history, Missouri, 1961, Noel, Pineville, secede, secession

At a new page, I have told the story of finding a very unusual McDonald Territory item on an online auction. The event in McDonald County was in 1961, remember. The Postmaster General of the Territory was Walter R. Arndt. I think it is safe to presume that he probably had custody of the "postal" effects, such as the round rubber stamp and the one with Noel, Mo and McDonald Territory wording. They were private postal items, such as modern-day local post enthusiasts use to apply to their mail. The items would not have been retained by the Noel Post Office, as the Noel Post Office had no official role in this. As long as the government got their three cents in the upper right corner, they didn't care about all the other stuff placed on the envelopes. Until now, the latest date I had been able to find for usage of the McDonald Territory Private Dispatch stamps was Christmas of 1961, and I have an illustration on my pages of a Christmas card with Walter Arndt's autograph.

Now, I find this item for sale that is postmarked September 1, 1971, and not only is it franked with one of the McDonald Territory Private Dispatch stamps, it is "tied" to the envelope with the large round dater that still had the 1961 year plug in it. The dater appears to have been designed to be used with a separate stamp for the month and day, but I have been seen any of them that have other than just the year date.

So, why did someone mail out a McDonald Territory envelope in 1971, ten years after the event? Was it intended as a souvenir of the 10th Anniversary of the secession attempt? Was it a favor to some collector who was proceeding on a lark and decided to send Arndt or someone else a cover for processing? This all would be very easy to explain away, if not for the round canceler applied over the McDonald stamp. Someone could have found an old stamp laying around that still had gum and decided they would just make use of it, and put it on the envelope as decoration. But the use of the device means that it had to be mailed by someone connected with the original 1961 event. I have a theory which I set forth on the page. I don't think it was someone who was personally known to the sender, whoever that was, since the envelope is addressed with a rubber stamp, a common practice of stamp collectors who send off for special postmarks, etc. I have not yet discovered when Arndt died, and hopefully as my research continues, I may be closer to solving this 1971 mystery!

http://www.qsl.net/kg0yh/mc1971.htm

McDonald County, McDonald Territory, Missouri, local post, local posts, private carriage of mail, stamps, cinderellas, propaganda, labels, postal history, private dispatch, private despatch, Noel, secede, secession, 1961, 1971, usage of local post beyond era of common use, souvenir, anniversary event, cancel, canceler

Follow-up:

Well, the mystery is solved! On the backside of the insert, Walter R. Arndt had signed it (as PM) and in his own handwriting referred to it as "McDonald Territory Local Post." This is a remarkable item in that it solves at least one position held by a previous philatelic writer who opined that the McDonald Territory was NOT a local post. In my opinion, it was clearly a local post, and when the former Postmaster General refers to it in writing as such, the argument ends! Full details given at the site noted above.

McDonald Territory Private Dispatch, McDonald Territory Local Post, McDonald Territory

I now have a picture of Walter R. Arndt on my site, as well as some writings of his from the 1960's that appear on the web.

I have one of these McDonald Territory Private Dispatch Stamps “yellow with Green lettering”.
Is this stamp worth keeping and if so do you have any idea of what it is worth.

Thank You
Have a Great day

Robert Carlson
Oneplace2u@comcast.net

Well, I certainly think it is. If it has perforations around the edge, that is the more common variety. They came in sheets of 25. Depending on whether your stamp has an edge, you might even be able to tell where it was, as to its relation in the sheet. Being still on an original mailing envelope (a cover) would increase its value, singles are not worth as much. You might watch eBay once in a while, I have bought several such items there, but I haven't paid more than $5, thus far. I think the "holy grail" for a collector of local posts (which is what McDonald Territory Private Dispatch stamps are) would be one evidencing a postmark near the secession date of April 12, 1961 and or a whole complete sheet of imperforate stamps, intact.

It has perforations around the edge. But it is an used stamp.
Maybe some day it might be worth something.

Yes, it may very well be. And in the meantime, you have a fascinating piece of history as a souvenir-a tangible piece, if you will, of a most interesting time in Missouri history. We see the same attitude in today's news when Americans show they are getting fed up with their governments. The idea of secession has come up several times in Texas in recent years, for instance!