Postmark Cancellation Celebrates 150 Anniversary of the Freeport IL Lincoln, Douglas Debate

Unveiling ceremony kicks off community celebration

What:
Unveiling of the official pictorial postmark cancellation celebrating the August 27, 1858 Freeport, IL Lincoln, Douglas debate.

When:
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
10:00 a.m.

Where:
Freeport Post Office / 2nd floor
103 N. Chicago
Freeport IL 61032

Who:
Raymond Tesmer, Officer In Charge, Freeport Post Office
George Buss, Abraham Lincoln impersonator
Nicole Bauer, Chairperson of the Freeport Lincoln-Douglas Sesquicentennial Commission
Suzy Beggin, member of the Freeport Lincoln-Douglas Sesquicentennial Commission

All residents and postal customers are invited to come, see and request the special cancellation.

Note:
The Lincoln-Douglas Debates consisted of seven (7) public debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas in 1858. Lincoln and Douglas were running for the United States Senate from Illinois. Whether or not slavery would be allowed in new territories of the United States became a key issue of the debates.

Abraham Lincoln has an important Postal Service connection as well. On May 7, 1833, 24-year-old Abraham Lincoln was appointed Postmaster of New Salem, Illinois. Lincoln served until the office was closed on May 20, 1836. Mail arrived once a week, delivered on a route running from Springfield to Millers Ferry. If the addressee did not collect his or her mail from the Post Office, as was the custom, Lincoln delivered it personally — usually carrying the mail in his hat.

As a community service, the Postal Service offers pictorial postmark cancellations to commemorate local events celebrated in communities throughout the nation. People attending these local events may obtain the cancellation in person. Those who cannot attend the event, but who wish to obtain the cancellation, may submit a mail order request. Pictorial cancellations are available only for the dates indicated, and requests must be postmarked no later than 30 days following the requested pictorial cancellation date.

Freeport postmark Send mail order requests to:
Lincoln/ Douglas Debate postmark cancellation
Freeport Post Office
Freeport, IL 61032-9998

The special postmark cancellation will be available on Wednesday, August 27 (the actual anniversary of the 1858 debate) and Friday and Saturday, August 29 & 30 (the dates of the community celebration to commemorate the debates). The cancellation stamp is available 8 am to 5:30 pm on Wednesday and Friday and 8:30 am to Noon on Saturday.

There is no charge to have an item stamped with the special cancellation stamp. Any item with a postage stamp can be stamped with the cancellation stamp.

Contacts:
Tim Ratliff, 630-260-5606, cell 630-853-8926, timothy.d.ratliff@usps.gov — USPS
Suzy Beggin, 815-232-3506, 815-541-0897, Suzy@SuzyBeggin.com

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Please Note: For broadcast quality video and audio, photo stills and other media resources, visit the USPS Newsroom at www.usps.com/communications/newsroom/welcome.htm.

An independent federal agency, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that visits every address in the nation — 146 million homes and businesses. It has 37,000 retail locations and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to pay for operating expenses, not tax dollars. The Postal Service has annual revenues of $75 billion and delivers nearly half the world’s mail.