By John B. Sharkey

My love affair with Newark Airport began in the early 1950s, when several of my friends and I would ride our bikes over to Newark Airport from our homes on the Elizabeth-Hillside border. Using back streets to get down to Route 1-9, it was an easy ride. Once there we would visit the old terminal and the newly opened North Terminal.

By Mike Ludeman

One of the key functions of the early General Post Office was the identification and appointment of Deputy Postmasters to operate post offices which served as the interface between postal patrons and the postal system. The ongoing task of appointments was necessary because of the death of postmasters, the resignation or relocation of the postmasters as the country expanded, and even the failure of postmasters to perform their assigned duties. These appointments were the responsibility of the Postmaster General and his assistants.

By John A. Trosky

Since the dawn of organized religion, proselytizing and spreading the faith has been an integral part of the theological doctrines in many faiths around the world. Missionaries were sent to foreign lands to convert or (some would say) indoctrinate the locals who may have adhered to their own religion which was unlike those of the missionaries.

By Arne Englund

The 1815 Postal Surcharge letter discussed here is a very interesting combination of post-War of 1812 postal rates, Philadelphia and New Jersey history, and, at the same time, a number of very elusive clues. A 50% postal surcharge had been enacted in 1815 to help recoup some of the massive debt incurred by the War of 1812. The letter itself has War of 1812-related content, regarding a member of the military. It was written October 25, 1815 at Philadelphia, by an Alexander Morrison, and addressed to a Jacob Harris, in Hardwick Township, Sussex County, NJ., informing Harris that his son, who is unnamed in the letter, had drowned while bathing at the “picket warf.”