Lost letter at the post office
I have a relative that died shortly after arriving in America from Sweden. His wife died on the trip over so 3 boys were left orphan. In the Moline Illinois paper,
it lists a lost letter that was never picked up. By chance do they have those letters somewhere to access? Jonas ollson is the name. I have seen others in my pioneer lds line also. Just curious. Thank you
Best Answers
-
1855 is the date of the public notice. not likely, but never say never. smile
. Have you tried the Moline US Post office? maybe they can provide guidance.
google search: Phone: (800) 275-8777
0 -
This is an interesting question! Unfortunately, I don't think there is much likelihood of your being able to find your relative's letter after 160+ years. You could try writing to the Postmaster in Moline, though ....
(It was pretty common even into the 20th century for people to send letters c/o a local post office when they weren't sure where the recipient would be at a given time. If you were traveling and expected (or hoped for) a letter, you would have to go to the various post offices along your route, to ask if there were any letters for you. (You can still do this, in fact -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poste_restante#United_States)
The USPS still has a "Mail Recovery Center" (what used to be called the "Dead Letter Office") but although there is a great deal of information on this page,
they do not actually say how long they will keep an undeliverable letter.
Apparently, undeliverable letters "below $25 in value" are now destroyed after that unstated time period --
1
Answers
-
Thank you. It was a long shot but they did things different in those days. Even to know who it was from would be information. Thank you for taking time to answer.
0 -
Thank you both for your help. I will check with the post office.
0