CSA 12c, 10¢ bluish green, uncanceled on cover to “Mrs. Sadie Armstrong, Washington, Arkansas” and in the same hand, “Care of Col. Jno. R. Eakin” (editor of the Washington Telegraph) with important directive at upper right in different hand, “Per Courier via Lewisville.” In the Washington Telegraph, February 5, 1862, “Rev. B. B. Black, Chaplain of the South Arkansas (McNair's) Regiment, will leave for camp next Monday. Persons desiring to send letters or very small packages to their friends in camp, will please leave them at the drug store of Moore & Smith before 9 o'clock Monday morning.” If the stamp is original to the cover, this would mean it could not have been Black who carried it, but it is likely that Eakin looked for others to transport mail. Regrettably, the upper right corner of both stamp and cover have been poorly restored / stained. Nonetheless, a rare use. Ex Gallagher and Clippert. $350.

Col. John R. Eakin (1822-1885) was editor of the Washington Telegraph, the foremost organ of Confederate propaganda in the southern part of Arkansas and the only editor in the state to continue publication throughout the war and into the Reconstruction period. In addition, the publishing firm of Eakin and Etter was elected to be official printer of state records in 1862 and its newspaper was the official organ of the Arkansas Confederacy in 1864-65. Judge John R. Eakin of Washington who subsequently because associate justice of the Arkansas supreme court and is also known for being a champion of women’s rights and a vinicultralist. Both in his agricultural experiments and in his forward-thinking jurisprudence, Eakin exemplified important traits of the Southern aristocratic elite, while his work in sustaining the Washington Telegraph during the Civil War left behind an invaluable written legacy, especially for the last two years of the war.

Bartimeus “Bartee” or “Bartie” B. Black (1829 or 1839-1862) enlisted as a Chaplain on 17 August 1861 at the age of 32 and was commissioned into Field and Staff of the 4th Arkansas Infantry. He died of disease on 30 August 1862 in the Confederate Hospital at Okolona, Mississippi, where he is buried in the Confederate Cemetery.