A Mr. Demery asked me how an official War Department six cent   
postage stamp of the type used during the period of July 1873 to July  
1884 came to have a Chester, N.Y. postmark (undated). Mr. Demery does  
not have the entire envelope so we know neither the sender nor the  
addressee.

I have found no references to any War Department or any other federal  
department offices in Chester. It is believed highly unlikely that  
the stamp would have been released to a civilian for, say, returning  
mail to the War Dept.

I was wondering if the War Dept. had representatives that travelled  
the countryside that could have used official postage to send reports  
back to the War Dept.?

Clifton Patrick
Town of Chester Historian
119 Brookside Ave.
Chester, County of Orange
New York 10918

direct phone/fax  845-469-7645