Lot
252 
"Wells Fargo & Co., Lahaina", endorsement at lower left and matching "Paid" rating on U.S. 3¢ Nesbitt entire to L.W. Sloat, San Francisco Cal.; apparent non-contemporary red pencil "Wells Fargo" at top left, otherwise Very Fine and rare. Estimate $5,000 - 7,500.
THE ONLY RECORDED EXAMPLE OF MAIL HANDLED BY WELLS FARGO AT LAHAINA, HAWAII.
The addressee, Lewis W. Sloat was the addressee in his capacity as Commissioner of Board of Claims at San Francisco. Sloat was the son of Commodore Sloat, who figured in capturing California for the United States in 1846. In 1854, he was apparently appointed a commissioner to acknowledge legal instruments to be recorded in the states of Massachusetts and Texas. This cover proves that there was a Wells Fargo & Co. office in Lahaina, about which nothing else is currently known.
References: Illustrated and discussed in Fred Gregory's Hawaii Foreign Mail to 1870 on p. II-354, fig. 19-6.
Realized: $6,000