William Hogarth Tower

William Hogarth Tower
William Hogarth Tower
Born	1871
Died	December 14, 1950
Nationality	USA
Occupation	Engineer
	Engineering career
Institutions	Princeton University
Projects	Dedicated his stamp collection to Princeton University Library
Awards	APS Hall of Fame

Last updated May 05, 2019

William Hogarth Tower (1871–1950), of New Jersey, USA was a postage stamp collector who endowed a "stamp room" at Princeton University.

New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is located on a peninsula, bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, particularly along the extent of the length of New York City on its western edge; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware River and Pennsylvania; and on the southwest by the Delaware Bay and Delaware. New Jersey is the fourth-smallest state by area but the 11th-most populous, with 9 million residents as of 2017, and the most densely populated of the 50 U.S. states; its biggest city is Newark. New Jersey lies completely within the combined statistical areas of New York City and Philadelphia. New Jersey was the second-wealthiest U.S. state by median household income as of 2017.

A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage, who then affix the stamp to the face or address-side of any item of mail—an envelope or other postal cover —that they wish to send. The item is then processed by the postal system, where a postmark or cancellation mark—in modern usage indicating date and point of origin of mailing—is applied to the stamp and its left and right sides to prevent its reuse. The item is then delivered to its addressee.

Princeton University University in Princeton, New Jersey

Princeton University is a private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. The institution moved to Newark in 1747, then to the current site nine years later, and renamed itself Princeton University in 1896.

Collecting interests

Tower created a number of stamp collections, each focused on one aspect of philately. His collections included English postal history mostly from the stampless period prior to the invention of postage stamps, as well as specialized collection of war covers and philatelic material related to Abraham Lincoln.

Philately is the study of stamps and postal history and other related items. It also refers to the collection, appreciation and research activities on stamps and other philatelic products. Philately involves more than just stamp collecting, which does not necessarily involve the study of stamps. It is possible to be a philatelist without owning any stamps. For instance, the stamps being studied may be very rare, or reside only in museums.

Postal history is the study of postal systems and how they operate and, or, the study of the use of postage stamps and covers and associated postal artifacts illustrating historical episodes in the development of postal systems. The term is attributed to Robson Lowe, a professional philatelist, stamp dealer and stamp auctioneer, who made the first organised study of the subject in the 1930s and described philatelists as "students of science", but postal historians as "students of humanity". More precisely, philatelists describe postal history as the study of rates, routes, markings, and means.

Abraham Lincoln was an American statesman, politician, and lawyer who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. Lincoln led the nation through the American Civil War, its bloodiest war and its greatest moral, constitutional, and political crisis. He preserved the Union, abolished slavery, strengthened the federal government, and modernized the U.S. economy.

Philatelic activity

Tower was able to convince Princeton University to create an academic-level "stamp room" containing philatelic material such as postage stamps, cancelled covers, and other items of postal history, and he was named curator by the university. With the assistance of the Society of Philatelic Americans he was able to solicit philatelic material to be used in the stamp room.

Honors and awards

Tower was named to the American Philatelic Society Hall of Fame in 1951.

The American Philatelic Society Hall of Fame award honors deceased philatelists who have contributed significantly to the field of national and/or international philately.

Legacy

Upon his death, Tower bequeathed his valuable collections of postage stamps and postal history item to the Princeton University Library.

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References

APS Hall of Fame – Rev. William Hogarth Tower (scroll down page)
William Hogarth Tower collection, Princeton University

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