Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Smithsonian First Postal Object

The man standing to the left of the open door is Charles Turner Cavileer. One of the two women to the right of
the door is probably 
his wife, Isabel; the other woman and the tall man may be two of his five living children.
A history of the region published during the elder Cavileer’s lifetime called him “the father of Pembina” and “the oldest living settler of that locality,” adding that “he was a regular correspondent to the Smithsonian Institute.” It is likely, then, that the postmaster sent the photograph to us from his own post office. It was received in 1882, making it the first postal object added to the Smithsonian’s collection.

From Object of the Month, National Postal Museum, Smithsonian Institution

4 comments:

  1. j cavalier12:02 AM

    Charles T. Cavileer 1818-1902, was my gg-grandfather. He had a relationship with another Indian Woman, (Marguerite Decoteau) prior to his marriage to Isabella Murray.
    Of that relationhip, Charles and Marguerite Decoteau had two children, Alexandre Cavalier b. Nov 1853, and Rachel Cavalier b 1854. C. Cavileer has an extensive background, unfortunately he doesn't mention anything in his writings of his other children by this other woman.

    ReplyDelete
  2. J, if you see this response to your comment, I would greatly appreciate you getting in touch with me directly to discuss your gg grandfather. You can contact me at the email listed on my Blogger profile - just follow the link on the right-hand side bar at top called 'View my complete profile' - hope to hear from you!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous11:48 PM

    Hi Trish, Wow, just now seeing this message...I posted a google book link below about Charles Cavileer and his marriages. Just curious if you may know of a possible marriage record in Manitoba between Charles T. Cavileer and Marguerite Decoteau in Aug 1851 as it states in this link? I'd like to keep in touch with you by email so I can share more info with you. I'm moving this upcoming May so will be busy from now until I'm settled, but if you can get in touch with me before I get too busy, that would be great. By the way, I needed to sign in on a google acct. to find your link to send you a message, instead I signed in as Anonymous cuz I don't want a google acct. :)
    J. Cavalier

    http://books.google.com/books?id=rvdyIdSG1UMC&pg=PA48&dq=Charles+Cavileer+married&hl=en&ei=hq1lTrWPMu-CsALK95m8Cg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&sqi=2&ved=0CDQQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=Charles%20Cavileer%20married&f=false

    ReplyDelete
  4. Email me at trishymouse@gmail.com

    By the way, you can post here without a google account, it also provides a way to log in with a link to your regular email so people can responde directly, no google account needed...

    ReplyDelete