STANSTEAD, QUE. - It appears rain or sleet or snow stopped a few members of the U.S. Postal Service after a letter arrived in a small Quebec town 101 years after it was mailed.
Dated December 19, 1901, the letter arrived last week at the Stanstead post office from a New York post office. It came with a notice from U.S. postal authorities saying it was found loose in the mail and likely had been damaged.
The letter arrived in a plastic envelope, says Stanstead postmaster Therese Maclure. With an image of Queen Victoria and a two-cent cost, the stamp's appearance made it stand out.
"We said 'It's old, look at the stamp. It's old, it had to be old,'" said Maclure.
The letter had been sent to "Mr. Marcellous Way" in Stanstead Junction, a town that doesn't exist any more. In it, Mrs. John Ross invites Way to her Sherbrooke home for Christmas holidays.
"Dear cousin," says the letter. "I will try once more to find out if you are in the land of the living or not. I will write to both places so you will be sure to get it."
Town resident Warren Ross says the signature of "Chat" on the letter helped him identify it. The name was his grandmother Charlotte's nickname.
"It's a surprise when you see your grandmother's name and they've been gone so long," said Ross.
Stanstead residents say they're not surprised the letter ended up in the U.S. as one of the streets in the town borders both countries.
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gives new meaning to the expression, "snail mail".
Dated December 19, 1901, the letter arrived last week at the Stanstead post office from a New York post office. It came with a notice from U.S. postal authorities saying it was found loose in the mail and likely had been damaged.
The letter arrived in a plastic envelope, says Stanstead postmaster Therese Maclure. With an image of Queen Victoria and a two-cent cost, the stamp's appearance made it stand out.
"We said 'It's old, look at the stamp. It's old, it had to be old,'" said Maclure.
The letter had been sent to "Mr. Marcellous Way" in Stanstead Junction, a town that doesn't exist any more. In it, Mrs. John Ross invites Way to her Sherbrooke home for Christmas holidays.
"Dear cousin," says the letter. "I will try once more to find out if you are in the land of the living or not. I will write to both places so you will be sure to get it."
Town resident Warren Ross says the signature of "Chat" on the letter helped him identify it. The name was his grandmother Charlotte's nickname.
"It's a surprise when you see your grandmother's name and they've been gone so long," said Ross.
Stanstead residents say they're not surprised the letter ended up in the U.S. as one of the streets in the town borders both countries.
________________________________________
gives new meaning to the expression, "snail mail".
