Lot
4346 
Confederacy, Danville Prison, Danville, Va., pristine unsealed cover sent by Doctor Tarbell to W. Willoughby Esq. in Alexandria Va., pencil "Examined R. C. Smith, Lt. Col. Commdg." censor endorsement at lower left, entered U.S. mails with U.S. 1863, 2¢ black, horizontal pair (US #73) tied by segmented cork cancels and "Old Point Comfort, Va., Jun 17" cds (likely in error for "Jan."), Very Fine, censored by the prison commander, R. C. Smith, who is known at Danville from Oct. 1864 to Jan. 1865, Harrison reports only seventeen total covers known from all Danville prisons, illustrated in Harrison (page 73). Estimate $1,500 - 2,000.
ONE OF THE FINEST KNOWN USAGES FROM THE DANVILLE PRISON - BEARING A PAIR OF THE U.S. 2¢ BLACKJACK ISSUE.
Doctor (actually his first name) Tarbell was captured by Confederate cavalry on September 21, 1864 near Winchester Va. He was taken to Libby Prison in Richmond, then transferred to Salisbury, N.C., then to Danville Prison and then back to Libby again on Feb. 18, 1865 before being paroled a few days later. The major portion of the Tarbell correspondence is at the University of Michigan Library. Doctor Tarbell enlisted May 1st, 1861 as a sergeant in Co. A NY 32nd Infantry. He rose through the ranks to Brevet Major and was a Commissary of Subsistence.