Nashville, Tenn., 5¢ carmine (61X2) deep rich color affixed over U.S. 3c Pink entire (U35) and tied by blue NASHVILLE / Ten. // SEP / 16 / 1861 circular datestamp with matching PAID handstamp; addressed to K.M. Murchison, Care G.W. Williams & Co., Fayetteville, N.C., Unusual use of the provisional over a U.S. entire, ex Boshwit and Felton, SCV $3,500 on a normal cover. $1,750.

Kenneth McKenzie Murchison (1831-1904) was part of a well-to-do family that owned Holly Hill Plantation in Manchester, near Spring Lake, where he was born. Of three brothers, two were colonels. Their grandfather immigrated from Scotland in 1773. His brother, Lt. Col. John Reid Murchison, was killed with a shot to the head while leading a charge at Cold Harbor. Kenneth enlisted as a second lieutenant in Co. E, NC 8th Infantry (noted as a 37-year-old merchant) and served in Co. C, NC 54th Infantry, as well as Co. F, NC 15th Infantry. He was taken prisoner November 7, 1863, at Rappahannock Station, Va., and confined to Old Capitol Prison in Washington, D.C. He was transferred to Johnson’s Island on November 11, 1863, and took the oath of allegiance July 25, 1865, from the latter location. He mustered out as a full colonel. After the war, Kenneth and David Reid Murchison (1837-1882) became business partners in a cotton brokerage firm with houses in New York, Wilmington, and Fayetteville. Kenneth purchased Orton Plantation and built the Orton Hotel.