CSA 4-2, 5¢ blue Stone 2, position 18 tied 36mm MARS BLUFF / S.C. CDS addressed to Stark Simms of Grindal’s Shoals, Pacolet river, So Ca on TURNED COVER; first use franked with CSA 1, 5¢ green tied AUGUSTA / GA DC to Edward Porcher, Mars Bluff, SC.; neatly rebacked cover front, Ex Tate. $350.

Maj. Joseph Stark Sims was a young lawyer from Grindal Shoals. He also operated a textile mill on the Pacolet and was one of three representatives from Union County to sign South Carolina’s Ordinance of Secession. He served as a South Carolina senator as well.

Dr. Edward Gough Porcher was born June 22, 1839, in South Carolina. He lived in the parishes of St. Philip and St. Michaels, Charleston District. He received his M.D. in 1860 from the Medical College of South Carolina in Charleston. On May 17, 1861, he was appointed Assistant Surgeon, Confederate States Army. During his military career, he was Assistant Surgeon, SC Heavy Artillery, 15th Battalion at Coles Island, SC and Ft. Pemberton, MS; assigned to the 32nd Georgia Infantry; promoted to Surgeon and served with the same unit at Ft. Johnson, Charleston, SC and Camp Milton, FL. In October 1865, only six months after the close of hostilities, he died of consumption.