3056

Desk

1880 Approximate

Otisco Post Office Sorting Desk / Cabinet. Material: wood, metal. Size: 26" W. x 72" H. x 14 1/2" deep. Description: dark stained pine; open 20 cubby shelf unit on upper cabinet; paper return shipping label nailed to top: "Jos. Langer, Jordan, Minn., Dealer in Fresh & Salt Meats"; metal cup hook on top front left side; 15-hole cubby unit on lower cabinet with two hinged doors and metal clasp; remnants of alphabetical shelf labels.

This post office desk / cabinet served the people of Otisco as a post office in the stagecoach days and prior to the coming of the Minneapolis and St. Louis railroad in 1877. It was located on the Adam Bishman farm about one mile northeast of Otisco. The last records were signed A. Bishman by Elizabeth Bishman, Assistant (Elizabeth was Adam Bishman's daughter). Cancellations (sale of stamps) for three months was four dollars and fifty-two cents, which the Bishman's were allowed to keep. This was a fourth class post office. The post office and the papers it contained were preserved by the Bishman family and presented to the Historical Society by the Clara Bishman estate. History of the Bishman family will be found in the Child's History of early Waseca. Postmasters in Otisco after the depot was built were: R. Jacoby; J.L. Hanson; O.N. Finstad; L.J. Johnson (served 32 years); A.F. Lang; Hermas Johnson; Mrs. Lyle Kelling; Kermit Johnson.