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Posted By: Jeff Mohler

Yes, it appears to be a postal railway cancellation. On the back of the card, the part of the cancellation that resembles a shoe print has the letters "RMS" in the middle. Those letters stand for Railway Mail Service. Even though it is hard to see, the letters in the 6 o'clock position of the round cancellation would be RPO, which stands for Railway Post Office. The Ashville & Murphy most likely would be the name of the railroad company. A google search reveals that a passenger train did run between Ashville and Murphy in the early part of the 20th century.