The Postcards of William Burgess, USS Kearsarge
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This collection was found on ebay over a period of several weeks of postings from a single owner. As with many of the items in this collection it took a little investigative work to 'figure things out' since the cards that were initially listed were posted on the correct date from the port city, but were only signed "Uncle Will" and addressed to Howard Rhinehalt, a nephew that did not share his Uncle's last name. To further confuse the matter, some of the correspondence had 'ship cancels' from other ships. The card to the right, mailed from Uncle Will in September 1909 on the USS Louisiana during the Hudson-Fulton Celebration. William also mailed a card from the USS Vermont during the same period. |
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Signature Card As additional cards were listed, clues came up as to the identity of 'Uncle Will'. The card to the left, though not listed on ebay showing the back, contained important information regarding the sender of the card. As can be seen, the date of their visit , the location, and the ship, USS Kearsarge where written on the back of the card. Many of the cards in this collection were mailed with letters and were not posted. |
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| A Postcard to his Father This card, and others like it, provided the final link to identifying 'Uncle Will'. Addressed to "Mr. Wm. Burgess" of Shelby, Ohio, it provided the link to William Burgess, BM2, onboard the USS Kearsarge. Acomformation of this comes from checking "Men on Board Ships of the Atlantic Fleet bound for the Pacific, December 16, 1907". This reference provides the home addresses of the sailors of the Great White Fleet upon sailing from Hampton Roads. Assemblying the other items became easy once the identity of sailor was determined. I was then able to bid confidently on other items knowing I had certain knowledge of the sender. |
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Port of Spain, Trinidad These two cards were mailed home from Will. the card at the left with the comment, "This is our first stop of the cruise" W. G. B.
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Rio do Janero, Brazil The two cards from Rio include a senic rendering and a nice card of the Grand Hotel with a trolley in front. The note on this card states, "This is certainly a dandy place and a modern city also very pretty but it certainly is hot. W.G.B"
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This was a nice city view of Aunta Arenas, Chile that Will forwarded within a letter. He included a stamp from Chile to decorate the card. The view is very similar to the photo taken by |
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Callao, Peru
Callao, Peru, Feb. 25, 1908 Dear Nephew Howard, What do you think of these people. Petty badly sunburned don't you think? W.G.B"
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Copyright(c) 2002 My Company. All rights reserved.
Bill@GreatWhiteFleet.info