The American Philatelist May 2018

Figure 5. This cover was postmarked December 18, 1918 in Bellefonte, the first day of official airmail service from the Pennsylvania town. It was
backstamped in Cleveland, Ohio.
of mail and was forced down at State College, Pennsylvania,
where the mail was placed aboard a train.”
The “mail by train from State College” story appeared in
a few national publications, usually stating that Smith was
“forced to land in a field a short distance from his destination.
The mail he carried was sent to Cleveland by train.” The
New York Times mentioned this scenario, but also identified
the location as “Williamsport State College,” which is indicative
of the confused nature of the entire report. This mail-byrail
story is clearly debunked by all the contemporary Centre
County newspaper accounts.
Indeed, it would not have been possible to send the mail
by train from State College and get it to Cleveland on the same
day. The only train serving both Bellefonte and State College
was a short line operated by the Bellefonte Central Railroad,
and due to wartime pressures, its four-times-a-day service had
been reduced effective June 18, 1917, to one round trip a day
between the two towns, in the afternoon, leaving Bellefonte at
1:45 p.m., arriving in State College at 2:55 p.m.; then leaving
State College at 5 p.m., arriving in Bellefonte at 6 p.m.
After leaving Bellefonte at about noon on December 18,
Smith crashed at Sharon, Pennsylvania, near the Ohio border
about 75 miles from Cleveland. His mail traveled on to
Cleveland by train.
A Very Lively Two Days
However, the events of December 17-18, 1918 in
Bellefonte are interesting beyond the details of Smith’s arrival
and departure as two other known planes flew through
Bellefonte. Although the Army had handed over the airmail
project to the Post Office Department in August 1918, it was
still involved in the operations. The Army was lending both
planes and pilots in the early months of the new service.
On Tuesday morning, December 17, a pilot and instructor
at the Army Signal Corps Aviation School named
Chauncey Todd, landed in Bellefonte. He had departed from
Elizabeth, New Jersey, that morning. His was another of the
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