a review of historical figures on early "classic" US Definitive Postage Stamps

1. Richard Welty 2023-11-28
Who Are These People?
Historical Figures on US Stamps

2. Stipulations
• Washington
• Franklin
• Jefferson
• Jackson
• Lincoln
We know who some people are

3. Early Definitives
1851-1861 1861-1868 1869
Franklin 2 2 1
Washington 5 5 1
Jefferson 1 1
Jackson 1 (1863)
Lincoln 1 (1866) 1

4. 1870 - Large Banknotes
•Edwin Stanton (7 cent)
•Henry Clay (12 cent)
•Daniel Webster (15 cent)
•Winfield Scott (24 cent)
•Alexander Hamilton (30 cent)
•Oliver Hazard Perry (90 cent)
•Zachary Taylor (5 cent, 1875)
Things get interesting

5. Broadway!
Alexander Hamilton

6. Oliver Hazard Perry
• The Perry brothers were Naval officers in the early
Republic
• Oliver built and commanded a squadron on Lake Erie
during the War of 1812
• Decisively defeated a British squadron in the Battle
of Lake Erie
• “We have met the enemy and they are ours”
• Perry ultimately won 9 battles on the Great Lakes

7. • Best known as the General-in-Chief at the beginning
of the Civil War
• originator of the “Anaconda Plan”
• Brilliant generalship in the Mexican American war
• particularly effective use of his staff
• Whig vs Democrats in the 1840s and 1850s
• Mexican-American War - Democratic politicians
and Whig generals
Winfield Scott

8. Daniel Webster
• Prominent Lawyer, Congressman, Secretary of State
• Famed for his rhetorical skills
• Best known for his involvement and devotion to the
Union
• Heavily engaged in compromising with southern
politicians over slavery

9. Henry Clay
• 40 year political career
• Congressman, Senator, Secretary of State
• Started as a Jeffersonian “Democratic-Republican”
• clashed with Jackson and migrated to the Whig
side of the house
• “The Great Compromiser”
• Compromises mostly involved pacifying the South
• Tariff act of 1833
• Compromise of 1850

10. Zachary Taylor
• Successful General in the Mexican-American War
• Like Scott, leaned Whig
• vague politics
• but very pro Union
• Elected president in 1848 anyway
• died after 16 months
• Stamp added to the Large Banknotes in response to
the Universal Postal Union and the setting of new
international rates.

11. Edwin Stanton
• Noted Constitutional Lawyer
• on Dan Sickle’s defense team in 1859-60
• first successful defense in the US on an insanity plea
• Lincoln’s second Secretary of War
• Continued in the Johnson Administration
• Stanton’s firing used by Congress as cause for
Johnson’s impeachment and trial
• Appointed to Supreme Court by President Grant