CSA 9a, 10¢ milky blue T-E-N with 4 large to huge margins, tied by RICHMOND / VA. // APR / 30 / 1863 CDS on cover to Wm. L. Owen, Esq., Black Walnut, Va., 1993 CSA certificate as milky blue but the stamp is lightly oxidized, still Extremely Fine, SCV $1,500. $1,500.

William L. Owen (1809 –1881) was a prominent planter, businessman, and politician from Halifax County, Virginia. Owen was for many years a director of the Richmond & Danville Railroad. As a politician, he served in the House of Delegates of Virginia, the Committee of Nine (who formulated the required new Constitution when Virginia was required to acknowledge the abolition of slavery), and the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1867. He was a trustee of Virginia Military Institute and Hampden-Sydney College. He was born in Black Walnut, now known as Cluster Springs, where he built his home “Elwood Farm.” Black Walnut is a historic plantation house built in the 1700s. At its peak, Black Walnut Plantation was one of the largest and most successful plantations in Halifax County. The only Civil War battle fought in Halifax County, the Battle of Staunton River Bridge, took place on Black Walnut Plantation in Summer 1864. Confederate troops maintained encampment there during the war alongside up to 800 Confederate slave laborers.