Stamps: Rochester mail was once picked up, delivered on the fly

The village of Rochester just may be the quietest place in Lorain County. Tucked into the southwest corner of the county, the rural village, known for its lively Fourth of July Homecoming Festival, provides residents with a peaceful life amid rich farmland. Even though state Route 511 passes through the village, the level of traffic remains relatively light, keeping things serene. Despite my numerous travels throughout the county, I had never been to Rochester. Knowing I had several pieces of Rochester postal history dating to the 1860s in my collection, I decided to visit the Rochester Historical Society Museum recently to learn more from the locals. Mayor Cindy Kurpely and her husband, Andy, a Village Council member and retired Lorain police officer, warmly welcomed me. They introduced me to historical society leaders Karen Murray and LaDonna Snyder Henson, who now lives in Nova a few miles south in Ashland County. Henson explained how village residents in a narrow vote chose the name Rochester — named for Rochester, New York — after a community debate. Housed in the former train station that served the community in the 19th century and early 20th centuries, the cozy museum showcases photos, artifacts and documents from township and village history. It includes a bank of post office boxes from an early post office site. The museum moved to its current location in 1932. Horses pulled the structure over logs to the site, Murray said. Rochester Township, in which Rochester is located, was the last township in Lorain County to be settled by people of European descent. "History of Lorain County" by William Brothers relates that "a man named Dodge, his wife Emeline, and a son named Newell came into the township" in 1827. They were referred to as "squatters" and built a log cabin as their new home. Brothers' account continues, recapping the stories of those who arrived in the township beginning in 1831. A town was established at the intersection of what today is state routes 162 and 511. Then it was known as Rochester Center. It subsequently moved two miles north when a railroad line was built. It became known as Rochester Depot with multiple trains daily making "flying" deposits and pickups of mail via trackside cranes. The name was shortened to Rochester in 1883 as the railroad's role declined. While Brothers recounts that the first post office in the township was established in 1837 with a volunteer mail carrier, U.S. Post Office Department records show that Giles Gilmore became Rochester Depot's first postmaster on July 28, 1851. An account in the Elyria Courier newspaper said the appointment "will give that thriving township the benefit of daily mail." Gilmore held the job just seven months until March 9, 1852. Other postmasters came and went every few years. Philip Kessler took over postmaster duties on Aug. 20, 1880, and he helped make the transition as the town's name changed to Rochester on April 6, 1883. Kessler was in the position until Aug. 3, 1885. Amanda Gariss served as Rochester's last postmaster. Under postal regulations, she retired at 70 on Dec. 30, 1966, after holding the position for 16 years. Her career with the post office actually spanned 44 years, beginning in 1922 when her husband Ernest assumed postmaster responsibilities. With Gariss' retirement, the post office closed; mail services were transferred to Wellington. For the small population that the Rochester Depot/Rochester post office served, mail to and from the area is not difficult to find. My collection includes a stampless cover with a "PAID" marking and a large-diameter "balloon" Rochester Depot circular date stamp dating from the early 1860s. It was addressed to James Monroe, who served in the Ohio Senate from 1860 to 1862. He resigned in October 1862 to become United States consul in Rio de Janeiro and later was charge d'affaires ad interim in Brazil. An Oberlin College graduate, Monroe returned to Ohio and was elected to five terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, serving from 1871 to 1881. Monroe died in 1898 at 76. He is buried in Westwood Cemetery. For a while during the 1880s, the Rochester post office utilized a "fancy cancel" that included a double-circle circular date stamp with a duplex star in circle "killer." The postmark was used during the period when the USPOD did not automatically provide small post offices with a device to cancel mail, leaving postmasters to create one or buy one from a private vendor. Sadowski can be reached at sadowski.dennis@gmail.com.