Folded letter by US Navy Surgeon David Shelton Edwards

David Shelton Edwards, American, died 1874 · July 17, 1835

The absence of the word "Paid" indicates that the letter was sent unpaid and 25 cents was collected from the addressee. The rate for a single letter (one sheet of paper) traveling more than 400 miles was 25 cents. In 1835 the letter probably would have traveled overland or by steamboat to Mobile, Alabama, where it joined the Great Mail route north using combinations of horse, coach, steamboat and train. The letter states there is a steamboat that transits every weekend between Pensacola, Florida and Mobile.