3¢ star-die entire U27 entire tied MOBILE / ALA // FEB / 20 / 1861 double-circle cancel, CSA Use of U.S. Postage, addressed to Mr. Chas. H. Howland, St. Louis, Mi (Missouri) with RARE bold blue ALICE VIVIAN CONFEDERATE PACKET BOAT (CSA CV $2,000) double-oval handstamp and blurry straightline handstamp which may be St. Louis ADVERTISED or Mobile STEAMBOAT – I could not determine. Nice name of boat packet boat handstamp reads “Regular Saturday Packet / Alice Vivian/ Capt. S.W. Abels / for Demopolis / & / Merriwether’s Landing.” Nov 20, 1855, patent lines inside envelope; small sealed tear at right into star-die, 1972 PF certificate. Alice Vivian operated on the Alabama and Tombigbee Rivers and was captured by the Federal blockader De Soto in August 1863 in the Gulf of Mexico, with 580 bales of cotton; her cargo was taken to New York and the ship to New Orleans as a prize (New York Times Aug. 22, 1863) Very seldom seen and coveted inland waterway marking. $2,300.

Charles H. Howland (1828-18xx) was a native of Massachusetts, who was a merchant in St. Louis prior to the Civil War, and a member of the Republican Party. Howland served in the State Legislature 1862-1864 and earned a seat in the state senate in 1864. He maintained his pro-Union sympathies throughout the war and suffered personal loss for his loyalty. He helped raise a US-colored regiment in 1863.