Origins
and History of the General Post Office
The definition of the word post originally meant "any of a
number of riders or runners posted at intervals to carry mail or messages in
relays along a route; postrider or courier" (Webster's New World Dictionary,
Third College Edition, 1988, page 1054). People, thousands of years ago,
didn't write letters to one another like we do nowadays. They didn't even have
paper, everything was done on clay tablets and papyrus (but that was a very
expensive thing to engage in). And therefore, the posts were really set up for
governmental purposes, between different rulers in their own country as well as
neighboring countries. The government set it up originally.
But there was another entity, known as the
general post-office, which was not for commercial purposes and it was strictly
for fellowship between the brothers, and they did it amongst themselves. Paul's
letters were not delivered by Caesar's men, but by brothers in Christ, and that
is the general post-office. And throughout history, there's always been the
general post-office and the governmental post office; and they're different.
One's done strictly for fellowship, the other's done for commercial purposes.
The current postal system, which is known as
the United States Postal Service, is commercial,
but it still retains the non-commercial
aspect. It's based on the original general post-office, It does not exist
without tracing its root to the original general post-office. And as with everything,
the created cannot do away with the creator. Therefore, that original creation
by the brothers fellowshipping amongst each other is still in existence,
they've never done away with it. In all their statutes, every time they come up
with a new statutory entity, they never do away with the general post-office,
therefore it is still there.
The general-post-office is not mentioned in
the Domestic Mail Manual because the Domestic Mail Manual denotes commerce. If
you've got a problem, that's what the postal service employees and managers
will refer to, but that's because everyone's presumed
to be in commerce. But it's only a presumption, and that's where you have to
come in and rebut that presumption. You
rebut it by not engaging in commercial activity and not receiving your mail at
an address, etc. Most people don't realize that when you receive mail at an
address, or even at a P.O. Box, you're receiving a free benefit from Caesar.
The postage you put on the envelope only covers the cost to deliver it from
post office to post office, it does not cover any delivery beyond the post
office (and the price for a P.O. Box covers the cost to rent the box itself,
not for the cost of delivery). That's called free delivery, which was
instituted during the Civil War, on July 1st, 1863. It was basically an act of
war by Abraham Lincoln. Even though they did have free mail delivery service
prior to that, it was strictly for commercial businesses. But then, in 1863,
they spread it to everyone. Up to that time, nobody had an address on their
house. The numbers were brought in on the houses strictly so the postman would
know where to deliver the mail. Before 1863, people would collect their mail by
going to the local post office and asking for it.
The U.S.Postal Service was established in
1971. This was preceded by the Post Office Department, which was established in
1872. And before the Post Office Department, the general post-office preceded
that. In the early 1800's, they started referring to the general post office as
the Post Office Department. However, it did not officially become the Post
Office Department until 1872. Previous to that it was known as the general
post-office.
There was actually two different general
post-offices. The Post Master General today wears about seven hats; there are
about seven different entities to the postal system. He wears the original hat
as a caretaker of the original general post-office. He's also the caretaker of
the general post-office that was created on February 20, 1792, which was for
governmental business. And then in 1872 they created the Post Office
Department.
In 1639, the original foundation for the post
office was given in Massachusetts to Richard Fairbanks, the owner of Fairbanks
Tavern in Boston. He was the first Postal officer in the history of the United
States.
The General Court of Massachusetts
November 5, 1639:
"For preventing the miscarriage of letters, it is ordered, that notice be given that Richard Fairbanks's house in Boston is the place appointed for all letters which are brought from beyond the seas, or are to be sent thither,'to be brought unto; and he is to take care that they be delivered or sent according to their directions; and he is allowed for every such letter one penny, and must answer all miscarriages through his own neglect in this kind; provided that no man shall be compelled to bring his letters thither, except he please."
November 5, 1639:
"For preventing the miscarriage of letters, it is ordered, that notice be given that Richard Fairbanks's house in Boston is the place appointed for all letters which are brought from beyond the seas, or are to be sent thither,'to be brought unto; and he is to take care that they be delivered or sent according to their directions; and he is allowed for every such letter one penny, and must answer all miscarriages through his own neglect in this kind; provided that no man shall be compelled to bring his letters thither, except he please."
Following the adoption of the Constitution in
May 1789, the Act of September 22, 1789 (1 Stat. 70), temporarily established a
post office:
NINETEENTH ACT of CONGRESS
An ACT for the temporary establishment of the POST OFFICE.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That there shall be appointed a Post-Master General; his powers and salary and the compensation to the assistant or clerk and deputies which he may appoint, and the regulations of the Post-Office shall be the same as they last were under the resolutions and ordinances of the late Congress. The Post-Master General to be subject to the direction of the President of the United States in performing the duties of his office, and in forming contracts for the transportation of the mail. Be it further enacted, That this act shall continue in force until the end of the next session of Congress, and no longer.
Approved, September 22nd, 1789.
An ACT for the temporary establishment of the POST OFFICE.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That there shall be appointed a Post-Master General; his powers and salary and the compensation to the assistant or clerk and deputies which he may appoint, and the regulations of the Post-Office shall be the same as they last were under the resolutions and ordinances of the late Congress. The Post-Master General to be subject to the direction of the President of the United States in performing the duties of his office, and in forming contracts for the transportation of the mail. Be it further enacted, That this act shall continue in force until the end of the next session of Congress, and no longer.
Approved, September 22nd, 1789.
The post office was temporarily continued by
the Act of August 4, 1790 (1 Stat. 178), and the Act of March 3, 1791 (1 Stat.
218). The Act of February 20, 1792 made detailed provisions for the post
office, and also established a separate general post office for governmental
purposes:
Chapter VIII - An Act to establish the
Post Office and Post Roads within the United States.
Section 3. And it be further enacted, That there shall be established, at the seat of the government of the United States, a general post-office.
Section 3. And it be further enacted, That there shall be established, at the seat of the government of the United States, a general post-office.
Note that this one page statutory creation by
Congress established that general
post-office for governmental business at the seat of the government of the United
States in Washington D.C. The general post-office, which already existed, was
never designated as being repealed in this Act. Therefore, it still remains in
existence, separate from the governmental business' set up by this Act. There's
nothing in that whole act which repeals the original general post-office.
There's nothing in the act of 1872, when they created the Post Office
Department, which did away with the original general post-office. So it's still
there. There's nothing in the act of July 1, 1971, which created the Postal
Service. The creation cannot do away with the creator, they cannot abolish the
creator. Otherwise it has no foundation. And that's why the current Postmaster
General wears about seven hats, because he has all of those different things
that were created all the way through there.
In the early 1800's, the general post-office
began to be referred to as "the Post-office department," but was not
officially created until June 8, 1872:
Chapter CCCXXXV. -
An Act to revise, consolidate, and amend the Statutes relating to the
Post-office Department.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That there shall be established, at the seat of government of the United States of America, a department to be known as the Post-office Department.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That there shall be established, at the seat of government of the United States of America, a department to be known as the Post-office Department.
And again, the general post-office was not
repealed in this statute. It is for this cause that the re-organized service
and its employees have no authority over the general post-office - it precedes
their creation and has its Source and Origin in God through His Lawful
assembly. The Post Office Department of the Confederate States of America was
established on February 21, 1861, by an Act of the Provisional Congress of the
Confederate States. The resumption of the federal mail service in the southern
states took place gradually as the war came to an end.
Then the Post Office Department was replaced
by the United States Postal Service on July 1, 1971. Title 39, the Postal
Reorganization Act, details this change as well.
Scripture Passages
The general post office has its beginnings in
scripture.
Jeremiah 51:31, "One post shall run to meet another, and one
messenger to meet another, to shew
the king of Babylon that his city is taken at one end..."
A "post" is another name for a
courier:
2 Chronicles 30:6, "So the posts
went with the letters from the king and
his princes throughout all Israel and Judah,"
Esther 3:13, "And the letters were sent by posts into all the king's
provinces..."
Scripture records messages being sent
"by the hands of messengers" (1
Samuel 11:7) from as far back as the book of Job, which is the oldest book in
the bible:
Job 1:14, "And there came a messenger unto Job, and said, the oxen
were plowing, and the asses feeding beside them:"
These messages were delivered using the
current means of movement at the time:
Esther 8:10,14, "And he wrote in the
king Ahasuerus' name, and sealed it with the king's ring, and sent letters
by posts on horseback, and riders on mules,
camels, and young dromedaries: So the posts
that rode upon mules and camels went out..."
And sending messages refreshes the soul:
Proverbs 25:13, KJV, "As the cold of
snow in the time of harvest, so is a faithful messenger to them that send him: for he refresheth the soul of his masters."
Proverbs 25:13, Septuagint, "As a fall
of snow in the time of harvest is good against heat, so a faithful messenger refreshes those that sent
him: for he helps the souls of his masters."
In times passed, people sent messages to
others by posting their letters on a "post" in the middle of town,
with the name of the one who it's intended for. People would go to this
"post" and look for letters with their name on it, and if they saw
their name on a letter they would take it down from the post and read it.
However, due to theft of messages, an office was built around the post to
prevent people from stealing messages. This office became known as the general
post-office. People would then go to the general post-office to pick up their
messages.
Today, the stamp on an envelope pays for
delivery of that envelope from the sender's post-office to the receiver's
post-office. It does not pay for the costs
when that envelope leaves the area behind the clerk's desk and gets delivered
to the receiver's address, mailbox, post office box, mail slot, etc. This is a
"free" service. The alternative to free mail delivery is to receive
all Postal Matter either in general
delivery, or through the general
post office.
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