Correspondence Course II - Postal History Sunday

Welcome!  You have just found your way to Postal History Sunday.  This is the place where Farmer Rob shares a subject he enjoys with anyone who has interest.  If you don't know much about postal history, that's ok, I try to write in a way that is accessible to both those with and without expertise in the subject area.  This week might be a bit deeper into the postal history than some.  But the good news is - there is NO TEST afterward.  And, I am always happy to answer questions and I invite corrections and additional information when it is offered.

Now, let's put on the fuzzy slippers and get ourselves a favorite beverage and snack.  Push those troubles out of sight for a while and maybe we can all learn something new and interesting.

1856 folded letter from France to the Netherlands

One of my ongoing postal history projects has been to continue to familiarize myself with mail handling in Western Europe during the 1850 to 1875 period.This is an important transitional period for postal systems.  The "cheap postage" movement was making it possible for more of the population to send letters, railroad systems were providing speedier delivery options, and the agreements nations made to exchange mail were changing to handle higher volumes and greater routing complexities.

The letter shown above was mailed in Bordeaux, France, in October of 1856.  The postage stamps show that the post office received 60 centimes, which was the proper rate for a letter to the Netherlands at the time.  The recipient of the letter was the financial firm, Luden and van Geuns in Amsterdam.

Postal historians are often grateful for correspondences with businesses such as Luden and van Geuns because they had business dealings around the globe.  Apparently, much of the old folded letters and envelopes were saved with their business records and much of it was eventually dispersed to postal history collectors.  This gives people like me an opportunity to get a good picture of what mail to Amsterdam from all over the globe looked like while they were in business.

Johannes Luden (1792-1868)

Luden and van Geuns

Johannes Luden was born in Amsterdam in 1792 to a family that had connections to the whaling business on his grandmother’s side. His father ran the firm Jb. H. Luden and Sons that was active in West Indies Dutch Colonial trade¹. I presume that Johannes may well have been involved in his father’s company before joining G. Nolthenius and Albert van Geuns in their own enterprise.  Johannes Luden died in Amsterdam in January of 1868, thus much of the correspondence shown later in this article arrived after his death, though the company kept his name.

Albert van Geuns ca 1860

The van Geuns family is an extremely well-known Mennonite family that was affluent and influential in the Netherlands during the 1700s and 1800s.  Family papers are kept in the Utrecht archives that apparently go back as far as 1647, so further research on better known family members is certainly possible.  Albert van Geuns was born in 1806 and, despite his status as founder of a bank, is overshadowed by numerous physicians, lawyers and ministers of note that can be found in the family tree².  The family connections may have provided significant capital to get a bank started.

Evidence that the financial house of Nolthenius, Luden and van Geuns was active as early as 1839 can be seen with the purchase of a new sailing frigate that was christened the Suzanna Christina³.   At some point after 1846, Nolthenius was removed from the name of the company and it appears Luden and van Geuns were active financiers until the early 1870s.  They are not listed in the 1874 Banker’s Almanac and may have liquidated prior to that point⁴.  Albert van Goens no longer had a partner in the firm upon Luden’s death in 1868 and it is possible van Goens began the process of consolidating and liquidating assets at that point - possibly up to the point of his own death in 1879.  

Sailing frigates - Frederec Roux circa 1850

Luden and van Geuns were active bankers in Amsterdam at a time when the tides were turning against traditional Dutch power concentrations in the merchant houses.  International banking businesses were changing towards less centralized structures and the old models struggled to stay relevant in the finance industry⁵.  Luden and van Geuns may well have found themselves straddling both worlds, modeling themselves on traditional financial houses, but being part of a wave of new banking institutions.  Unlike many newer banks of the time, they appeared to rely on family wealth (and thus limited investors) for their initial capital.  Other banks spread out risk by having a larger number of investors, often allowing publicly traded shares. 

It  seems that Luden and van Goens either could not weather the trends or they could find no one to continue operations as its legacy does not appear to have carried on beyond the lives of its founders.  But, perhaps, the company continued under a different name (or names). 

Postal Conventions and evolving rates/routes

Prior to the General Postal Union (1875) and the Universal Postal Union (1879), postal arrangements between nations were anything but simple.  It was not uncommon to have several postage rates listed for the same destination and the required postage often varied greatly depending on the route being taken. For example, a letter from Amsterdam to Malta in 1852 would cost 120 Dutch centen if it went via England versus 45 Dutch centen if it traveled via Trieste.  While it might seem that the decision would be simple – choose the mail rate via Trieste -  one had to consider mail departure dates and travel times to determine if the less expensive route might result in delays that might actually be more costly in the end.

Nations that shared borders in Europe typically maintained postal agreements for the exchange of mail.  The Netherlands maintained postal agreements with neighboring Belgium, Prussia and Hannover.  As could be expected, the postal rates for neighboring countries were more favorable than those to nations that required transit via another country or by sea.  

Colton's Holland and Belgium Map (1865) - modified to highlight border crossings

Letter mail from Belgium

The Congress of Vienna (1815) attached Belgium to the Netherlands even though Napoleon had not yet been defeated at the Battle of Waterloo.  On October 4, 1830, Belgium declared independence from the Netherlands and the current powers of Europe intervened and ratified this on January 10, 1831.  The final treaty signed on Oct 15, 1831 left Luxembourg with the Netherlands and recognized Belgium, but Netherlands refused to participate in the treaty.  Conflict persisted between the Netherlands and Belgium for eight more years until a second treaty (Treaty of London - 1839) set the boundaries that are similar to what we see today.

Ostende circa 1830

The Dutch closed their markets to Belgian products and several years of poor harvests led to economic difficulties for Belgium in the 1840’s.  However, Belgium was able to weather the rash of revolutionary sentiment in 1848 and worked to adjust to the loss of access to the Dutch ports by developing an efficient rail system that connected to shipping facilities in Ostende⁶.  From a postal history perspective, Belgium plays a pivotal role as a mail transit nation for treaty mail from this point forward.  The Dutch, on the other hand, were slow to develop rail services and continued to lose economic influence in Europe.

	Letter Rates - Belgium to the Netherlands
Effective Date		Rate	Border Rate	Unit
Apr 1, 1852		40 centimes	20 centimes (a)	15 grams
Jul 1, 1865		20 centimes	10 centimes (b)	10 grams
Dec 15, 1873		20 centimes	10 centimes	15 grams

(a)    – 50 km distance

(b)    – 30 km distance

Letter mail from Belgium to the Netherlands could be carried over an impressive network of roads and waterways, even if the development of rail services was limited in Holland.  Most mail to Amsterdam would take the rail line from Anvers (Antwerp) in Belgium up to Moerdyk where steam ferries would cross Hollands Diep.  It was not until 1872 that a bridge over Hollands Diep was opened to rail travel.  The route from there to Rotterdam did not include rail service until some point between 1860 and 1865.  But, from Rotterdam rail service to Amsterdam was in place from the late 1840’s⁷.

Shown above is a folded letter from Bruxelles (Brussels), Belgium, in 1861.  The first postage rate in our table was in effect and the 40 centimes were paid by the postage stamp at the bottom right.  This is just one of many examples of the Luden and van Geuns business correspondence.

This folded letter exhibits a proper single rate (or simple) letter - 20 cents per 10 grams - under the 1865 postal convention⁸.  This letter originated in the Wallonian portion of Belgium in the city of Charleroi where it took Belgian railways via Bruxelles (Brussels) on the way to Anvers.   The contents show paperwork for a bank transaction between the Société Anonyme Banque in Charleroi and Luden and van Geuns.  Unlike Luden and van Geuns, the S.A. Banque in Charleroi relied on a broader range of “anonymous” investors for its capital.  However, it seems that Luden and van Geuns may have also been in the habit of being an “anonymous” investor for several other banks throughout Europe and perhaps worldwide.

Letter mail from Prussia

Unlike Belgium, Prussia maintained a distance component in their rates with the Netherlands in addition to a border mail rate.  The 1851 Convention split Prussia into three rayons (distances or regions) plus a border mail region, with each having a separate base rate amount.  In addition, the rate progressions were not linear.  For example, mail from the Netherlands to the first rayon of Prussia would cost 10 cents for the first 15 grams and 25 cents for an item over 15 grams up to 30 grams.  As of January 1, 1864, when the 1863 convention was placed in force, there were only two rayons as well as a border mail rate and the rate structure was greatly simplified⁹.

The mail route to Amsterdam from Prussia was entirely by rail once the final section was opened between Arnhem (Holland) and Emmerich (Prussia) in 1856⁷.  The Prussian line to Emmerich connected with the rest of the Prussian system between Duisburg and Essen.  The rail lines between Arnhem and Amsterdam had been in place since the mid-1840’s, but mail had to get to Arnhem using carriage transportation.   

Illustrated above is a folded letter showing the 2 silbergroschen rate per loth (about 15 grams) for an item originating in the first rayon of Prussia to Amsterdam.  Barmen is located on a rail line East of Dusseldorf, where it turned North towards Emmerich.  Unlike many items in the Luden and van Geuns  correspondence, there are no contents or indications on the folded cover sheet as to the sender or the purpose of this mailing.  But, because it is part of the correspondence, it's a good guess that it held some sort of business transaction.

Evolution of French/Dutch letter mail rates

The mail exchanged between the Netherlands and France provides an interesting case study in that it shows a transition from neighboring state status to a situation where mail had to transit another country to reach its destination.  The Postal Convention of September 12, 1817 between the two nations established five rayons (districts or distances) in the Netherlands.  Those closest to the border with France were in the first rayon and were given the lowest postage rate.  Each successive rayon required more postage for services rendered.  At the time of this convention, both Belgium and Luxembourg were a part of the Netherlands and in the first or second rayon¹⁰.

By the time the October 10, 1836 convention was placed in effect, Belgium was no longer considered a part of the Netherlands as far as France was concerned.  Considering the fact that the Dutch still had not agreed that Belgium was its own nation at this time, it is interesting that they would actually negotiate a mail treaty that took this into consideration.  This new agreement left only Luxembourg in the first rayon and the rest of the Netherlands existed in rayons three through five.  Valenciennes (France) and Breda (Netherlands) were the designated entry/exit points for the mail and served as the locations for exchange offices.  Transit via Belgium was implied for all mail between the two countries (unless it was to/from Luxembourg)¹¹.

Letter Rates - France to the Netherlands as of Oct 10, 1836
Effective Date	Rate	Unit
1st rayon	30 centimes	7.5 grams
3rd rayon	60 centimes	7.5 grams
4th rayon	70 centimes	7.5 grams
5th rayon	80 centimes	7.5 grams

The 1851 postal convention between the Netherlands and France was completed on November 1^st, ratified the following January, and enacted on April 1, 1852.  Luxembourg was no longer a part of the Netherlands and the rayon system was removed in favor of a rate based only on a weight unit rather than the combined weight and distance formula of the prior conventions.

 

Letter Rates - France to the Netherlands
Effective Date	Rate	Unit
Apr 1, 1852	60 centimes	7.5 grams
Apr 1, 1868	40 centimes	10 grams
Jan 1, 1876 (GPU)	30 centimes	15 grams

 

The first article of the 1851 convention shows the influence of competing rail carriage lines for the mails by including the possibility of using Rhenish Prussia as the transit entity between the Netherlands and France.  Mails were to be transferred between the two countries once per day via Belgium, which was considered to be the primary mail route.  The Prussian route was to be used when its use was considered to be “advantageous.”  This might well be the case for destinations in northern Holland (such as Amsterdam) or for mail received too late for the mail train that ran through Belgium¹².

 

Article I of the 1851 Postal Convention between France and the Netherlands

 

The Belgian route left France at Valenciennes, traveled through Anvers (Antwerp) and entered the Netherlands at Rosendaal.  The Prussian transit most likely started at the French/Prussian border at Forbach and entered Holland at Emmerich.  A third option could use both Belgian and Prussian transit services by sending mail to Brussels and then east to Aachen and onward to Emmerich.  The convention itself did not specify these Prussian routes, leaving it to the postal services of the participating nations to determine best protocols.  As railway services expanded, options for mail exchange could be added by mutual agreement of the postal authorities in each nation.

 

The very first item at the beginning of this blog is an example of letter mail from France to the Netherlands at the 60 centime rate.  Shown above is another lettersheet mailed in 1867 from Reims, France.  The letter took the railway that ran from Givet to Paris in France on May 7 and the letter arrived the next day in Amsterdam.

Reims is in northeastern France and would normally use the crossing at Givet for mail destined to Belgium.  However, mails to Holland were not made up to take this rail crossing, so this simple letter was taken back to Paris before being placed on a mail train to transit Belgium via Valenciennes.   

This routing is supported by the Givet A Paris marking.  Typically the departure station of an ambulant marking is listed first and the arrival station second¹³.  Thus, this item was sent on the mail train heading towards Paris where the mailbag for Dutch mail via Belgium departed.  There is no proof on this cover that the Belgian route was taken, but the best ‘rule of thumb’ is to select the primary route unless evidence can be found to prove otherwise.

 

Articles IV of the 1868 Postal Convention between the Netherlands and France

 

There was one more postal agreement reached between these two nations prior to the General Postal Union.  The 1868 convention does much more to spell out the use of the corresponding postal systems for mail transiting each country for destinations other than France or the Netherlands.  But, for the purposes of this article, the primary change is the reduction in the postal rates.  Not only was the cost per unit reduced, but the weight per unit was also increased.

The fourth article of this convention clearly outlines how the postage was to be divided between the countries.  The second column holds the postage due per letter.  The third column shows the amount owed to the Netherlands by France and the final column shows the reverse.  Prepaid letter mail is showed in rows one and two and unpaid mail in rows three and four¹⁴.  A prepaid letter from France cost 40 centimes per 10 grams.  Of those 40 centimes, 13 and 1/3 centimes were to be passed to Holland.  Implicit in this table was the 3 and 1/3 centimes that France would pay to Belgium for mail transit per letter.

 

Double weight letter from Paris in 1868

Most conventions during this period included instructions for marking items as paid so that receiving postal administrations might know whether an item would require the collection of postage at the destination.  The red, boxed PD serves that purpose on this double rate cover to Amsterdam.  Many conventions also indicated that there should be markings to show multiple rates and/or credit and debit amounts between postal services.  The reverse of this item shows what might be a “2” in blue crayon which could indicate a double letter rate or it may have another purpose unknown to me.

So, you all know the drill by now!  If you know the answer, let me know and I can share it in a later Postal History Sunday!

 

Triple weight letter from Paris in 1870

The “Place de la Bourse” in Paris was located in the 2^nd Arrondissement, one of twenty sections of the city.  This area was a significant banking and business center and the “bourse” referenced the stock trading area known as the Palais Brongniart.  The triple letter rate cover shown here includes a bank statement for a French bank where Luden and van Goens had clearly placed funds and were receiving returns on matured investments. 

Mail originating with Thurn and Taxis mail services

Here is a folded letter mailed in September of 1861 to le Haag (the Hague) in Holland.

The Thurn and Taxis post did NOT have a specific agreement with the Netherlands.  Instead, they used their membership in the GAPU (German Austrian Postal Union) to take advantage of the agreement the collective membership had with Holland, effective April 1, 1851 and ending December 31, 1863.

Just as was the case for the Prussian letter, both weight AND distance went into figuring out the postage required to send a letter between the two entities.  

As a reminder, the agreement divided the GAPU area into three parts, with the region closest to the Netherlands having the least expensive postage and the areas further from the shared border paying more.  It also divided the Netherlands into two parts.  Each of these regions are typically referred to as a "rayon."

GAPU rayons:

• up to 10 meilen - 1 sgr or 3 kr
• over 10, up to 20 - 2 sgr or 6 kr
• over 20 meilen - 3 sgr or 9 kr
  

Mainz was over 20 meilen from the border, so that cost 9 kreuzer in postage.

Netherlands rayons:

• up to 10 meilen from the border - 1 silbergroschen OR 4 kreuzer
• over 10 meilen - 2 sgr or 7 kr

The Hague was over 10 meilen from the border, so that cost 7 kreuzer in postage.

When we add these two costs together it brings us to 16 kreuzer to send a letter from Mainz to the Hague in 1861.

You can actually see the calculation by the Thurn and Taxis postal clerk at the bottom left in red ink. 

9 / 7 / 2 in red,   W in blue

The "2" in red is the equivalent 2 silbergroschen to be paid to the Netherlands for their share of the postage.  The southern German districts worked in kreuzers and the northern in silbergroschen.  The northern districts bordered with the Netherlands, so they would actually be responsible for getting the proper amount of money to Holland.

The blue "W" was added by a Prussian postal clerk which stood for the word "weiterfranko," which loosely translates to "continue franking."  In other words, "forward this amount of postage" to the next postal service.  It was a way to clearly indicate that they were responsible for getting the 2 sgr to the Dutch post. And... if you should happen to care, this was equivalent to ten Dutch cents.

The folded letter shown above was mailed in 1866 from a location south of Frankfurt A Main - an area that also relied on the mail services provided by Thurn and Taxis.  The letter shows postage stamps indicating the payment of 24 kreuzers to provide all that was needed for this letter to Amsterdam.  This postage rate was calculated using a new rate structure that was effective in January, 1864 - so it is different from the prior letter.

The letter was a double weight letter and of the 24 kreuzers in postage, the equivalent of 8 kreuzers was passed to the Dutch postal service to cover their portion of the expenses.  The postage breakdown is shown by the inked "16/8" just to the left of the town name "Amsterdam."

Letter mail from Austria

The German-Austrian Postal Union (GAPU) insured that rates between Austria and the Netherlands were the equivalent of the most distant rayon in the Prussian rate structure.  The 1851 convention between Holland and Prussia maintained the non-linear rate structure effective until the end of 1863.  The new postal convention, effective at the beginning of 1864, between the GAPU and the Netherlands placed Austria in the second rayon with a flat rate per 15 grams (or loth) ¹⁵.

The Austro-Prussian War of 1866, also known as the Seven-Weeks War (June-August 1866) disrupted mail services to and from Austria during the conflict and for some time after.  Mail to and from the Netherlands during the war was required to go via France.  Despite the conflict, Austria remained a part of the GAPU afterward and new rates applied on October 1 of 1868 removed the rayon system entirely.

The German railway systems efficiently moved mail from Austria to the Dutch mail entry point at Arnhem via Emmerich, but the Austrian lines were a bit more limited, with most mail entering Bavaria via Vienna and Linz.  Mail originating in northern Austria would typically go through Prague and enter Saxony near Dresden.  Mail from the Tyrol area of Austria could enter Bavaria near Innsbruck.  However, once the Brenner Pass was open to rail traffic in 1867, this routing could be selected in southern regions of Austria versus routing through Wien (Vienna) depending on mail train schedules¹⁶.

 

Letter from Trieste, major port city on the Adriatic Ocean in 1871.

This letter to Luden and van Geuns was sent by Bideleux and Company in Trieste.  Bideleux and Co are listed as bankers in the 1874 Bankers Almanac and in the 1871 edition of Dempsey’s “Universal Hand Gazetteer and Route Book.”¹⁷  This business letter most likely went northeast to Vienna via the train that took the Semmering Pass and then headed west to Bavaria.  The 10 kreuzer rate per loth (15 grams) was split between Austria and Germany with 4 kreuzer (equivalent to 1 silbergroschen) being passed to Germany so it could pay the Netherlands its portion of the postage.  Austria retained the remaining 6 kreuzer.  This rate was effective beginning October 1, 1868 and lasted until June 30, 1875.

Did you make it this far?

This Postal History Sunday was a bit more highly populated with details than many.  But, I think it makes the point well that the simple act of one business saving old business letters provided me (well over a century later) with material that motivated me to do a great deal of learning!

For my part, it is interesting to note that I have not found much more than two Luden and van Geuns letters in one place.  So, it's not like I found a pile of them somewhere so I could study them.  Instead, the correspondence is spread out in collections all over the globe now.  I can't anticipate when next I will see a new one, nor can I predict where it might be from!

Thank you so much for joining me today.  I hope you have a fine remainder of your day and an excellent week to come.

 Resources

1. Schukkenbroek, J., “Trying Out: An Anatomy of Dutch Whaling and Seeling in the Nineteenth Century: 1815-1885,” Amsterdam University Press, 2008.

2. Zijpp, Nanne van der. "Geuns, van, family." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1956. Web. 12 Jan 2019. http://gameo.org/index.php?title=Geuns,_van,_family&oldid=141131.

3. 4Ice Productions, “Firma G.Nolthenius & Luden & van Geuns,” Stichting Maritiem-Historische Databank,  Web. Jan 6 2019.

4. Bankers Almanac for 1874, American Banknote Company, 1874.

5. Jonker, J & Sluyterman, K, “At Home on the World Markets: Dutch International Trading Companies form the 16^th Century until the Present,” Sde Uitgevrs, The Hague, 2000.

6. ibid.

7. Veenendaal, A.J., “Railways in the Netherlands: A Brief History, 1834-1994,” Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA, 2001.

8. Deneumostier, E. & Deneumostier, M., “Les Tarifs Postaux Service Internationaux 1849-1875,” Yvoz-Ramet, Brussels, 1987.

9. Lagemans, E.G., "Recueil des Traites et Conventions Conclus par le Royaume des Pays-Bas,"  vol V & VI, Belinfonte Freres, La Haye, 1873

10. Bourgouin, J., “Les Tarifs Postaux Francais: Entre 1848 et 1916,” Web. 12 Jan 2019. http://jean-louis.bourgouin.pagesperso-orange.fr/Tarifs%20Postaux.htm.

11. DeClercq, M., “Recueil des Traites de la France,” Vol 6, Paris, 1866.

12. ibid, pp 117-125.

13. Lesgor, Raoul, "The cancellations on French stamps of the classic issues, 1849-1876", Nassau Stamp Co, NY, 1948.

14. DeClercq, M., “Recueil des Traites de la France,” Vol 5, Paris, 1880.

15. Neumann, L. & de Plason, A., “Recueil des Traites et Conventions Conclus par l’Autriche, vol 1, Vienna, 1877.

16. Fetridge, W.P., “Harper’s Handbook for Travellers in Europe and the East, Vol 1,” Harper and Brothers, New York, 1879.

17. Dempsey, J.M. and Hughes, W. eds., “Our Ocean Highways: A Condensed Universal Gazetteer and International Route Book,” Edward Stanford, London, 1871.

Some of this material was originally explored in an article published in the February, 2019, Postal History Journal, Issue No. 172. 

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Postal History Sunday is published each week at both the Genuine Faux Farm blog and the GFF Postal History blog.  If you are interested in prior entries, you can view them, starting with the most recent, at this location.