United States Postal Service

Fuller was born in Mass. on Aug. 13, 1787. He moved to N.Y. (State) where he served as a member of the N.Y. Assembly and Senate. In 1837 he moved to Adrian (Mich.), where he served as a Representative from Lenawee County and Speaker of the House, 1841. Fuller also served as Assist. Postmaster under Pres. Harrison. He later returned to N.Y. (State).

Lonnie Busch illustrated the 50 Greetings From America stamps in 2002. The original uncut press stamp sheet contained two panes of 40 United States natural and man-made wonders. These included places, plants, animals, and structures from each region of the country.

The Territory of Arizona was created by proclamation of the Confederate States of America and the United States responded with the Organic Act of 1863 creating another Territory of Arizona with overlapping boundaries. After the Civil War the government moved back and forth between Tucson and the Prescott area before settling in Phoenix. On February 14, 1912, Arizona became the 48th state. To understand Arizona, one must understand the importance of mining. Many of the towns came into being as mining camps or as supply stations and transportation sites for the minerals drawn from the mines and mining was the principal economic activity for a large portion of Arizona's history. Arizona mines yielded gold, silver and copper. This collection helps document Arizona's history of boom and bust through the ledgers documenting settlers' connection with the rest of the world and through the daily work and concerns of the postal workers who served the communities. The US Post Office Department operated stations and substations in Arizona prior to and after Arizona became a state. The first post office in Arizona was located at Fort Defiance. Later in 1856, the second Arizona post office was opened in Tucson. Some of the towns in this collection such as Phoenix and Tucson are still in existence and have grown to be major cities, while others are now ghost towns. Some of the towns with the richest documentation in this collection such as Jerome, Bisbee, and Klondyke were at one point considered ghost towns, but now have thriving populations. This collection consists of records and documents from stations and substations in these towns and cities ranging from the 1880s through the present day. It is a useful resource for genealogists as many of the ledgers contain individual and family names. It is also a resource for documenting the economic conditions in Arizona from the late 19th through the 20th century.

The Horr post office in Sherman Township, Isabella County (Mich.) operated from April 8, 1994 to Nov. 15, 1904. It was renamed Woodin's Mills on Dec. 14, 1886, but the original name was reinstated on March 15, 1890. Farmer William F. Sherman was its first postmaster. The Drew post office in Sherman Township, Isabella County (Mich.) opened on Jan. 24, 1899 as a stop on the Pere Marquette Railroad, with storekeeper Edward W. Benn as its postmaster. It ceased to operate on Nov. 15, 1904. (Information from Michigan Place Names.).

Harold B. Collins was Tucson Postmaster from 1934-1965 when Arnold R. Elias was selected by U.S. Representative Morris Udall to take over. Elias was confirmed by the U.S. Senate and President Johnson for permanent appointment. Many of the photographs in this collection were taken by Herman Berlowe, the Installation Services Director.

No information is available on Gorton. Oakville (Mich.)'s first post office operated May 7-Nov. 24, 1834 and Jan. 21-May 2, 1835 when the town was renamed Readingville. On June 28, 1836 the town was renamed Nelsonville. On Jan. 3, 1837 it was again renamed Oakville and stayed so until the post office permanently closed on Feb. 29, 1904. (Information from Mich. place names.).

The Tyrone, New Mexico post office was established in 1906 and the town still exists today, although it is now in a different location, but still near Silver City. It was a well known mining camp during the period of this collection and was a planned city envisioned as a modern mining city. Copper and turquoise had been discovered there by 1871, but uncertainty due to threats of the Apaches led to the abandonment of the claim. In 1875 the claim was rediscovered and many properties were developed in the ensuing years. Tyrone was named by a Mr. Honeky from Tyrone, Ireland. In 1909 Phelps Dodge Corporation began buying up the claims around Tyrone and Leopold, so they established a new Tyrone on a different site a mile and a half northeast of the mining camp. In 1915 plans for the new Tyrone were announced and Spanish mission style architecture was used. The business district was designed around a large plaza planted with trees, grass and shrubs. There was a also a marble drinking fountain. Despite its beauty, it was a doomed town. In 1921 mining operations were suspended. A drop in the copper prices following WWI and a lowering of the grade of ore caused Phelps Dodge to close down. The town died and remained dead for 45 years until a new mine opened in 1969. The present town of Tyrone is a few miles north of the copper pit and the old town of Tyrone. Not much remains of the original town.

In addition to the materials from Tyrone, this collection includes records from the town of Leopold, New Mexico. The post office for Leopold, also located near Silver City was established in 1904 and discontinued in 1914. Leopold is the sister city for Tyrone, both being establshed as copper mining camps. The town was named after Asa F. Leopold, an important figure in the town. It grew up around the Burro Mountain Copper Company. The mine company boasted about being the largest individual quartz mining company in New Mexico. In 1909 the Phelps Dodge Corporation purchased Burron Mountain Copper Company and in 1912 moved their headquarters from Leopold to Tyrone. Once this happened, the post office closed and the town died off. Nothing of Leopold remains today.

Born in 1925, Carl T. Stevens, Jr. worked as an Industrial Engineer for the Tucson Post Office from 1973-1990. During that time, his responsibility was to help to improve the productivity of postal operations. He received frequent commendations for his work, including one for increasing the productivity of the Tucson Post Office while cutting spending, one for perfect attendance, and also credit for bringing positive national attention to the Tucson Post Office. He was recognized throughout his career for his innovation in equpment design as well as system improvements.

Stevens was the editor of "Pride", the newsletter for the Tucson Post Office, first published in 1974. According to Postmaster Elias, "The basic theme was to let everyone in the Tucson mail processing operations know what's happening in their post office, that they can be truly proud of what they are doing and where they are working...The Pride bird was to be the symbol of the newsletter. It is a cartoon character that gets involved in various postal operations without having any physical or facial characteristics that could be identified with any specific individual, but could generally be associated with everyone..."

Mr. Stevens was a professional artist and exhibited his work in Arizona and Texas. His works were in a variety of media, including oils, acrylics, pastels, ceramics, pen and ink, charcoal, and silk-screen. He was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree from Texas A and M University. Prior to his work with the US Postal Service, he worked as a Missile Engineer.