Rex H. (Jim) Stever Nueces County Postal History Collection

Collection — Box: 1

Identifier: Coll-170

Staff Only

This collection consists of three archival albums containing 80 pages of postal covers from 1845 to 1899. There are over 100 historic covers included in the collection. Mr. Stever amassed this collection over a period of 40 years. When the collection was exhibited at the Greater Houston Stamp Show in 2000, the exhibit was awarded the Grand Prize (highest award). The collection was deemed “unique and irreplaceable” as it contains a number of covers which are unique.

Dates

1846-1900

Conditions Governing Access

No restrictions

Conditions Governing Use

Permission to publish, reproduce, distribute, or use by any and all other current or future developed methods or procedures must be obtained in writing from Special Collections and Archives, Mary and Jeff Bell Library, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. All rights are reserved and retained regardless of current or future development or laws that may apply to fair use standards.

Extent

1 Linear Feet

Abstract

Rex H. (Jim) Stever was a geologist and collector of postage stamps and postal history lore. He spent much of his life researching the postal service in Texas and collecting postage stamps and letters. This collection picks up right as Texas was annexed into the United States of America and tells the story of Texas in the latter half of the 1800’s like nothing else could.

Biographical / Historical

Rex H. (Jim) Stever was born in Finley, Ohio in 1924 and moved to Corpus Christi in 1930. He served in the Pacific Theater of World War II in the Army Air Corp as a navigator. After hostilities ceased, he completed a Masters Degree in Petroleum Engineering from Texas Tech University.

Stever worked for Shell Oil for a decade, but his real interest was in history. He was a member of many Texas historical groups, such as Nueces Country Historical Society, Texas Historical Society, South Texas Historical Society, and he served more than 30 years on the Nueces County Historical Commission. He was also heavily involved in postage stamp collecting history and was a Life Member of the American Philatelic Society and Library and served as President of the Texas Postal History Society.

Rex H. (Jim) Stever passed away in 2019. He was survived by his wife of 67 years, Barbara and their sons Jed and Scott.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged in three traycased binders with envelopes attached to graph paper with handwritten descriptions. Volume 1 starts in 1846, and the collection proceeds chronologically through all three binders.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

This collection was acquired in 2004 with Special Collections & Archives Director Tom Kreneck’s leadership.

Related Materials

Aalbert Heine & Corpus Christi Science and History Museum Collection Dr. Hector P. Garcia Papers Colleen Johnson and Brian Miller’s Donation of John Tunnell M.D. & Mary Stubbs Stamp Collection

Processing Information

This collection was arranged by Eric Christensen, Librarian of Archive Processing for Texas A&M University– Corpus Christi’s Special Collections & Archives Department. The Scope and Content note in this finding aid was taken from a letter from Tom Kreneck when the library was in the early stages of acquiring this collection.