Lost at the Dead Letter Office?

In the years before World War I thousands of letters handled by this country’s postal service went undelivered. They ended up in the waste bin because they were addressed improperly or incompletely, or were illegible. When local postal workers were stumped about what to do with a letter they couldn’t deliver they forwarded the stray mail to the Dead Letter Office.

Only the Dead Letter Office had the authority to open letters which couldn’t seem to get delivered. Once opened, the contents of letters were considered sacred, so much so that the dead letter clerks were—and still are—forbidden to read any more of the communications than absolutely necessary to determine where the letters should go. The Post Office preferred to hire women or retired clergy, whom they felt could be trusted with items of value.

If something is lost in the mail, it feels like it has disappeared into the ether, like it was sucked into a black hole, like it no longer exists. But, it turns out, a lot of the mail we think is lost is actually in a designated place.  The Mail Recovery Centre is the contemporary name for the Dead Letter Office.  It’s where our lost mail ends up. And eventually, if our mail doesn’t find its way back to its rightful owner, it’s auctioned off to the highest bidder.

 

It used to be that once the Post Office deemed they were out of room in the Dead Letter office they would auction off what they had to resellers that sold on EBay. But now like libraries, and other collectible businesses they have cut out the middleman and are selling online the dead mail  themselves.

Material from Canada’s Dead Letter Office continues to arouse the interest of a diversity of collectors of Canadian postal history.  So what did they find in the Ottawa Dead Letter office in February 1892 according to the newspaper?

$18,000 in cash, 4 writs, 6 mortgages, 8 waistcoats, 4 vests, 100 railway tickets, 85 railway passes, 16 neckties and 4 sets of false teeth-as well as a host of mail that could not be delivered.

 

 

Come and visit the Lanark County Genealogical Society Facebook page– what’s there? Cool old photos–and lots of things interesting to read.

Information where you can buy all Linda Seccaspina’s books-You can also read Linda in Hometown News and now in The Townships Sun

Inspector Coolican and His Rural Mail Delivery

 

 

 1876

July 7, 1921–Almonte Gazette

Inspector Coolican is busy locating letter boxes in Almonte and Carleton Place and laying out rural mail delivery routes.

Almonte will have seven letter boxes and Carleton Place will have eight in addition to the three now maintained by the town. In Almonte the boxes will be located at the corner of Country and Church streets, at the Reformed Presbyterian church in New England, on Main street near the Stone Bridge, near the Rosamond Woolen Co’s, Mill, at the Methodist church, near the upper end of Union street, and at junction of Main, Martin and Queen streets.

1903

 

The establishing of free rural delivery mail routes has also been looked into, and the inspector will recommend a route from, Almonte to Union Hall, Rosetta, Arklan, and return by way of the Perth road. Another route will be from Pakenhanm village to the ninth line, along the ninth line to Blakeney and return to Pakenham by route serving the eleventh and twelfth lines.

 

1876

Another will be from Pakenham to Cedar Hill, going as far as Mr. Adam Miller’s and back with a full service to the district lying between these points. Still another route will leave Pakenham by way of the White Lake road going almost up to Ellis’ school, crossing over to the twelfth line, serving all the district between and returning to F,lone 49 Pakenham by the twelfth line.

 

First Rural Mail From Carleton Place–On Friday last the first rural mail delivery from Carleton Place was instituted, when Mr. George Presley started out on No. 2 R.M.D., Beckwith. The route is from Carleton Place, starting at 6 a.m., to 11th line Beckwith, thence to Ashton station and Ashton village, returning by the 9th line and running west to the lake, then south to the 7th line and returning to town by the Franktown road. It is a long route, covering 35 miles. R.M.D. No. 1 is to the McCreary, Scotch Corners, Innisville, Boyd’s section, but has not yet been started, although we understand Mr. Albert Winn has this contract. As soon as a sufficient number of boxes are secured this service w ill be started.—Carleton Place Herald. Nov 22 1912

Come and visit the Lanark County Genealogical Society Facebook page– what’s there? Cool old photos–and lots of things interesting to read.

Information where you can buy all Linda Seccaspina’s books-You can also read Linda in Hometown News and now in The Townships Sun