July 4, 1838 – Welcome To Iowa Territory.

Many don’t realize that Iowa, for a short time in our history – between April 20, 1836 and July 4, 1838 – was designated as part of Wisconsin Territory!

And on October 25, 1836, Governor Henry Dodge – overseeing this new U.S. Territory from his office in the capital city of Belmont, Wisconsin – called the first Wisconsin Territorial Legislature to order. It was during those sessions when it was decided that the new capital city of Wisconsin Territory would be located in Madison. But alas, since Mad City had no facilities for such gatherings, a temporary capital was named…

Yup, the little Iowa community of Burlington, located on the Mississippi River and formed in 1833, was the capital city of Wisconsin Territory for about nine months.

Beginning on **November 6, 1837**, the second session of the **Wisconsin Territorial Legislature** met in **Burlington**! And, it’s at these meetings in Old Zion Church, when it was proposed that the Territorial lines be re-drawn and the **Iowa District of Wisconsin Territory** be formed into its own Territory (see map below) – which did get approved by the U.S. Senate in **April, 1838.**

Which brings us, now, to our rare postal cover (see below), dated July 4, 1838, postmarked in Dubuque.

*(JP-0110)* ***1838 stamp-less cover & letter – Dubuque to Carrollton, Illinois*** – **Letter dated July 2, 1838, and postmarked July 4, 1838. The cost to mail this 2-page letter was 18 and 3/4 cents**.

Now, at first glance, this stamp-less postal cover from 1838, while valuable for its age alone, is actually, super rare, because of the unique postmark found in the bottom left corner of the letter (see above). Note that the postmaster in Dubuque stamped this letter – written by Green Weaver – on July 2, 1838 – to his friend, and business partner, George Pegram in Carrollton, Illinois – using a postmark that, technically, was out of date!

You see, Iowa Territory came into existence on July 4, 1838 – the same date our letter is stamped in Dubuque. But if you look closely, the location designated on the postmaster’s stamp is W.T. (Wisconsin Territory)!

In other words, the postmaster in Dubuque – newspaper publisher John King – by not changing out his postmarking stamp* (see sample – above right), produced a rare postal “error” – marking our letter with Wisconsin Territory, instead of using the new, I.T. (Iowa Territory) markings! Who knows, maybe King was a Badger fan, or it was too early in the morning and the good postmaster hadn’t had his wake-up coffee?

*All humor aside, it’s very likely that King simply hadn’t received his new circular date stamp with I.T. markings, and thus, he had to use his old one!

Regardless of the reason, this Dubuque, W.T. postmark, as we said, makes for a very rare postal cover, and for us, here at Our Iowa Heritage, also gives us a very, intriguing look at the economy surrounding the early days of Iowa Territory in 1838. For that, we’ll go deeper inside Green Weaver‘s two-page letter to his friend, and business partner, George Pegram, who lived 250 miles south of Dubuque, in Carrollton, Illinois.

**Carrolltown** (see map above right) is the county seat of **Greene County, Illinois**, is located around 250 miles south of Dubuque, and 68 miles southwest of Springfield, the state capital, and 60 miles north of St. Louis, Missouri.

From the content of Green Weaver‘s July 2, 1838 two-page letter (below), we find that George Pegram had shipped a hefty supply of surplus corn and beans up the Mississippi River earlier that year, asking his business partner, and friend, Green Weaver, to sell these items for him at a good price in the growing market of Dubuque County.

Below is the full contents of Green Weaver’s letter – with added punctuation, and occasional added info, to make for easier reading and better understanding…

**Dubuque, Iowa Territory, July 2^nd 1838**

Note that Weaver is fully aware of the upcoming change from **Wisconsin Territory** to **Iowa Territory**.

**Mr. George Pegram, Dear Sir.**
I have just rec’d a few lines from you which I hasten to answer. When Mr. Powers was here last, I requested him to inform you that your corn had been disposed of and the money collect[ed] in the currency of this upper country, and if you could use it, I wished you to inform me and I would send it to you.

Keep in mind, in 1838, there was no common U.S. dollar with one, central banking system, so, it was common, especially in the far west U.S. Territories and States, like Wisconsin, Iowa, and Illinois, for local banks to issue their own currency. Thus, when Weaver states, “in the currency of this upper country”, he is referring to paper bills printed by local banks – in this case, probably banks in Wisconsin and/or in Dubuque. Read about early Dubuque banks here.

***Your beans will not sell at any price. The article is not good. I sold a few barrels of them but cannot get pay for them as they were damaged. Write to me what to do with them as they are in my way.***

As you will read in the P.S. section (below), the barrels of beans Pegram shipped up north to Weaver had three major issues making them unmarketable.

The corn was sold for $1.25 and 1.12 ½ cents per bushel, fifty dollars of which I rec’d in Illinois paper, and I have paid $164.37½ freight and drayage on the corn and beans in good money. Please inform me what to do as the money has been doing me no good.

Weaver has spent nearly $165 in shipping and storage for Pegram’s corn and beans, and some of the money he received in sales was given to him in Illinois currency – which does him little good in Dubuque County.

Now you wishes our currency is no better than when I wrote last to you.
I would recommend my friends below to send their surplus produce to Iowa market where the currency is better than here. We cannot buy lead at anything like a fair price here.

Here, Weaver seems to be saying that the selling prices for produce might be better in the “Iowa market” – which is probably referring to cities further south on the Mississippi River like Lyons, Bloomington (Muscatine), and Burlington. Interestingly, Dubuque is known for its lead mines, yet it’s so valuable, the prices to purchase it must be sky high.

***I am very sorry you ever sent me the articles as things have turned out in money matters. Today, we are taking money & tomorrow it is worth nothing at all.***

Weaver closes his letter by admitting that the economy in the new Iowa Territory of 1838 is tough, indeed. The idea for shipping extra produce north on the Mississippi River, obviously, has not been a good one, and Weaver regrets that he undertook the project on Pegram’s behalf.

***Yours &c Green Weaver***

***PS. Your beans are frost bit, mixed with peas, and some barrels, plenty of brick bats in them.***

Weaver closes with the bad news about Pegram’s beans: they are 1) frost bit, 2) mixed with peas, and 3) little pieces of brick are mixed into the beans. Whoops! A true marketing boo-boo on Pegram’s part!

So, there you have it! This rare 1838 postal cover from Dubuque, not only offers us a rare philatelic collectible, but more importantly, gives us an illuminating peek into the day-to-day lives of those early pioneers who settled in this new U.S. Territory called Iowa!