CSA 11, 10¢ blue tied on cover by neat blue HILLSBORO / N.C. // APR / 1 cds on cover to Mrs. Jno. Stovall, Oxford, N. Ca., with manuscript directive For the Sassafras Fork Mail. With handwritten poem enclosure on elegant stationery with 7-star flag patriotic sticker applied. A delightful combination of an unusual routing directive with a lovely enclosure. Ex Bleuler and Neil. $1,200. 

The town of Sassafras Fork in Granville County, N.C., was changed to Stovall and incorporated as such in 1889 according to one source (Laws and Resolutions of the State of North Carolina, passed by the General Assembly at its session [1889]) and in 1907 according to another (stovallnc.org). Oxford and Stovall are approximately ten miles apart. Stovall is near the southern Virginia border near Clarksville, Va. (13 miles). The John W. Stovall Farm is a historic tobacco farm complex and national historic district located near Stovall. The farmhouse was built between 1835-1860 in two sections. In the 2010 federal census there was a population of 418. John Walker Stovall (1814-1899) was a successful farmer and merchant. He was also a magistrate for 30 years. He married Lucy Barnett Stovall January 7, 1835, and they had 9 children. One of his sons, John T. Stovall, was killed at Spotsylvania. Another son, Joseph B. Stovall, was a physician. After the war, many of his old slaves remained on his farm until death.