In WWI, Lygumai (Ligumy, Ligum), a township in north Lithuania in the district of Šiauliai, was first entered by units of Bayersche Kavallerie-Division on May 3, 1915, though units of 3. Kavallerie-Division had bypassed it already on April 31. The German advance into Žemaitija and Courland had started on April 27, 1915. When the Russian counterattack forced the German troops to give up Šiauliai on May 10, they also withdrew from the Lygumai area. But during the German counteroffensive to re-take Šiauliai on July 21, 1915, Lygumai was once more passed through on the same day, this time by units of 6th cav. div. (6. Kavallerie-Division).
Units of the Red Army which followed the German withdrawal from Russia at the end of 1918, reached Lygumai in January 1919 but were pushed out in mid-March during the German Grenzschutz drive on Riga. In the second half of 1919, Lygumai came to be dominated by the “bermontininkai” causing some armed opposition, but under pressure from Lithuanian troops they vacated the area in mid-November.
The Lygumai Community Council had asked Pašto Valdyba to provide a postal facility as early as May 11, 1920, but a postal agency (pašto agentūra, a branch lower in rank than post office), was opened in the Council’s premises, after some delay, on May 16, 1921. It was accountable to the post office of Pakruojis. The first official in charge, below the rank of postmaster, was Matas Duoba who looked after the agency until very late in 1926.
The first available stamps were from Fourth Berlin (?), Kaunas Coloured and the Sėjėjas Issues, and on October 1, 1922 were replaced by Litas / Centas overprints. As the Lygumai pašto agentūra had not yet been supplied with a standard postmarker, cancelling at first was done by handwriting, indicating place and date.
But the agentūra soon acquired a makeshift two-line cachet, again showing place and date.
A standard postmarker was supplied soon afterwards, before the end of 1921, and can be found already on values of the Sėjėjas Issue.
Known provisional cancellations:
MS cancellation:
9 / VI / 21 letter to USA, Kaunas Colour 40 x2 [formerly Matuzas]Two-liner cachet:
28 / VII / 21 letter to USA, Sėjėjas 1a x2 [formerly Matuzas]