Thomas Chubbuck
Thomas Chubbuck (February 22, 1820 – January 10, 1888) was an American copper and steel engraver and the designer of one of the earliest American gummed stamps, the "Brattleboro stamp", in 1846, as well as the engraver of the modern seal of Springfield, Massachusetts. While living in Boston, apprenticing as an engraver by profession and studying music as an amateur, he met Frederick N. Palmer, then a music teacher but future postmaster of the Brattleboro, Vermont post office. After the two had since-relocated to Brattleboro, Palmer would later ask Chubbuck to design a simple stamp for pre-paid postage in August 1846, which Chubbuck obliged "for the fun of the thing". Though a rarity, the Brattleboro stamp has been falsely described as the first postage stamp in the United States, Chubbuck modeled it after its preceding counterparts from Providence and the New York Postmaster's Provisional. By the end of Chubbuck's life examples of such stamps were sold by collectors for as much as $200 (approximately $5761.51 in 2019 USD), and were sold for as much as $16,500 at auction in 2015. Chubbuck was also a prominent figure in Springfield's temperance community, paying for the fees and charter of the Western Massachusetts Sons of Temperance chapter in his final years leading up to his death.
Q482097
steel engraver
Concept
Q96399863
designer
UNK
Q16970354
Brattleboro stamp
UNK
None
seal of Springfield, Massachusetts
UNK
Q899813
Brattleboro, Vermont
LOC
Q16982703
New York Postmaster's Provisional
UNK
Q333247
temperance
Concept
Q7562354
Sons of Temperance
MEDIA
Q87574430
Thomas Chubbuck
PER
1820-02-22T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
February 22, 1820
DATE
1888-01-10T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
January 10, 1888
DATE
1846-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1846
DATE
1846-08-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
August 1846
DATE
2019-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
2019
DATE
2015-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
2015
DATE
+200^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
200
NUMBER
+5761.51^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
5761.51
NUMBER
+16.500^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
16,500
NUMBER
date of birth
date of death