US U27, 3¢ star-die entire (USPOD watermarked with patent lines) tied lightly struck SCUPPERNONG / N.C. cds with May 27 [1861] in manuscript at center. This is the FIRST DAY of NC in the Confederacy and quite scarce. The Confederate Post Office Department took over on June 1, 1861, thus is easily the state with the shortest amount of time for Confederate Use of US Postage. Addressed to William S. Pettigrew, Raleigh, NC and docketed as from Malachi J. White, May 25, 1861. Will be the subject of one of my columns. $2,000.

William Shepard Pettigrew (1818-1900) and Malachi J. White were neighbors. A blog at http://blogs.lib.unc.edu/civilwar/index.php/2012/02/12/12-february-1862/ shows an 1862 letter from Pettigrew in Scuppernong who wrote that he was removing his slaves inland in the company of a neighbor, Malachi J. White, to protect them from invading foes. White was enlisted by Pettigrew to oversee work at Pettigrew’s plantation while Pettigrew was in Raleigh serving as representative to the NC Secession Convention. White wrote letters dictated by slaves who were the functional overseers, the cultivation of crops and activities of Pettigrew’s slaves (1862). Pettigrew inherited two plantations from his father, an influential landowner in eastern North Carolina. The Pettigrew family papers are at UNC (1776-1926).