1840 Stampless Cover, Privately Carried Outside the Mails, Boston to New York to Post Office for Drop

This folded letter is datelined June 22, 1840, and was carried from Boston when it entered the mail in New York as a drop letter and rated "1" in manuscript.
This date falls within the period when William Harnden carried mail under contract with the U.S. Post Office Department between Boston and New York, an arrangement that lasted from 1839 until June 30, 1844.
William Harnden established the first independent mail company to carry small packages and money between Boston and New York. His first advertisement appeared February 23, 1839 and announced four trips each week between Boston and New York.