by Mary E. Woolley Reprinted from the Publications of the Rhode Island Historical Society PROVIDENCE, R. I. 1894...

A letter written in 1652, by Samuel Symonds of Ipswich, to John Winthrop, Jr., at Pequot, says: “I cannot say but its besides my intentions that I write not more frequently unto you; I can onely plead this for my excuse (soe farr as it will goe) ... and the uncertainty when and how to convey letters.” [1] A glance at the correspondence of that period shows that Mr. Symonds was not the only one inconvenienced by the “uncertainty when and how to convey letters.” With no domestic postal service the

[The preceding pages were reprinted from the Publications of the Rhode Island Historical Society, January, 1894. Subsequently there was received from the Public Record Office in London, by the kindness of Hubert Hall, Esq., F.S.A., a copy of the patent to Thomas Neale, mentioned on page 8 , preceding. The document is of fundamental importance to the history of the colonial post office. It instituted, for the first time, a royal intercolonial post, an American post office; and the American post o