Dear Sir,

As a first day cover collector of the U.S. 1948 Stone stamp (Scott #965), I was surprised and very interested to see a picture of my grandfather’s birthplace on page 19 page of the January, 2009 issue. The accompanying text on page 18, however, describes this incorrectly as “also the site of the Stone First Day Ceremony.” The 2006 U.S. Scott First Day Cover Catalogue & Checklist by Michael A. Mellone lists no ceremony program for this stamp. Through two days of research at the Chesterfield, N.H., Historical Society, I learned there was no program because there was no formal ceremony. My article “The Story Behind the Missing 1948 Stone First Day Ceremony Program,” published in the April 15, 2004, issue of First Days, recounts what really happened at the birthplace.

Briefly, the dedication of a plaque honoring Stone was part of a memorial ceremony that the Chesterfield Historical Committee added to its 1948 “Old Home Day” program on August 25. The New Hampshire and U.S. Supreme Court speakers at the birthplace did not mention the new Stone stamp, which was on sale at the village post office one and a half miles away. The Post Office Department, realizing that the dedication would attract a crowd, had decided to use the occasion to issue the Stone stamp. It dispatched the supervisor of the Philatelic Sales Agency in Washington to give special stamp presentation albums to Stone’s widow and Senator Styles Bridges of New Hampshire. This little ceremony took place at the post office, as recorded by photographers from nearby New Hampshire and Vermont newspapers.

Sincerely,
Harlan Fiske Stone II

The Author Responds

Dear Sir,

If erroneous material posted on the internet is a danger to stamp collectors and others, so too is its cousin, the unwarranted assumption. I was guilty of the latter by assuming that what happened in Chesterfield, New Hampshire was a first day ceremony. I apologize for the error and thank Mr. Stone for his enlightening correction.

Sincerely,
Rodney Juell