I have not found any connection between James and Hitchcock or even Dougherty and the National Educational Card Company. I thought I would share some of the research I did for you on this deck for others to read. Maybe someone else will spot a connection.

Richard H. James
Born June 4, 1850 in the very small town of Rising Sun, Ohio County, Indiana. It is about 25 miles down the Ohio River from Cincinnati.
Died November 13, 1932 in Montebello, Los Angeles County, California and is buried in the Los Angeles Odd Fellows Cemetery.
His wife Ava North James (1850-1922) is buried next to him.
 
In 1870 he was a 19 year old working as a clerk in a store in Rising Sun.
In 1871 he married Ava North
About 1875 he moves to Hot Springs, Arkansas, and is listed as a retail grocer. His mother-in-law lives with the family.
Very active in promoting Hot Springs as a great health place. In the later 1890s he is on several local committees to attract visitors.
In 1900 he is listed as a Merchant in Eureka Springs (about 20 miles northwest of Hot Springs). He is now also a traveling representative for that town to increase tourism.
By 1903 James is a traveling representative on the new St. Louis & Northern Arkansas rail road that is now connected to Eureka Springs. He is organizing special trips to and from the St. Louis World?s Fair.
James also arranges for President Roosevelt to visit Eureka Springs in April 1903 on this train.
1907 Files articles of incorporation for the National Educational Card Company of Eureka Springs with a capital of $25,000 (over $800,000 today). The other incorporators have the last name of Orendorff. Still looking for them.
There are no Eureka Springs city directories online. There is also no good Eureka Springs historical group that is interested in anything other than their hot springs. Also checked Carroll County organizations with no luck.
Cannot find any mention of the company in a newspaper, Geyer?s or American Stationer other than their incorporation yet.
In 1910 he is back in Hot Springs living with his mother-in-law that runs a boarding house. He is listed as a Commercial Traveling Salesman.
By 1920 he has moved to Los Angeles to live with his daughter?s family. Her husband is a builder there.
His wife dies in 1922. He lived with his daughter?s family until his death in 1932 from pneumonia and heart failure.

Eureka Springs Historical Marker
Chandler Mall Buildings
Richard H. James and Charles S. Beck built the three story brick and limestone Beck and James Building in the year 1888 to house a clothing and apparel store.
F. H. and Avarilla James and their family resided in the upper rooms and C. S. Beck was a boarder in their household. He was a practitioner of the art of ?magnetic healing.?
Zadock P. Freeman, well known civic leader and mayor, built the Freeman Block, another brick and limestone structure, in which F.A. Pickard operated a hardware and furniture store.
The substantial three story buildings were constructed two years before the level of Main Street was raised and widened with the result that their lower floors were enclosed by high stone retaining walls.
About five years earlier, R. H. James constructed a large wooden building with a fine hardwood floor beside Main Street adjacent to the future site of the Beck and James Building. He operated a ?skating rink? where visitors skated on wheels to music. Roller skating was one of the most popular year round sports in America in the Victorian Era.
This building was damaged or destroyed by the Great Fire of 1888 and James rebuilt a portion of it as an opera house. Theatrical stock companies and road shows then touring the country gave performances throughout the year in the beautifully appointed theater. It was originally lighted with coal gas lamps, and replaced in 1899 with 200 electric lights and footlights for the stage. Local recitals, musicales, and political rallies were held at the opera house as well.
Changing times brought new interests. In 1917 Mary Arnheiter, Mary Lou Evans and Alma H. J. Hubbell adapted the opera house to show motion pictures and opened "The Queens Photoplay House". In 1923 the building was used as the Pentecostal Mission meeting house.

The other incorporators are listed as O. H. and A. L. Orendorff. They are husband and wife.

Oliver Haynes Orendorff
23 Dec 1868   Blooming Grove (now Bloomington), McLean County, Illinois
23 Oct 1927    Farmer City, DeWitt County, Illinois
Bloomington, McLean County, Illinois, United States of America

Married 23 Oct 1890 in McLean County, Illinois to Ada/Addie Luella Hoffman
(31 Mar 1869 - 23 May 1958)

They are buried together in Blooming Grove Cemetery in Bloomington, McLean County, Illinois

1900   Farmer     Applied for a patent for a stormproof mailbox. Advertises them for sale in local newspapers
1903   Natural gas discovered on his property. Income from it not stated in newspaper.
1905   Dairyman at the Sanitary Dairy Company
1907  Jan 4th Moved to Eureka Springs due to bad health. Was diagnosed with Bright's disease That is an archaic term for what is now referred to as 'nephritis'. Nephritis is an inflammation of the kidneys, caused by toxins, infection or autoimmune conditions. It is not strictly a single disease, rather a condition with a number of types and causes.
1907  April      Incorporates card company
          May       He sells 4 lots back in Bloomington for $4,000 ($131,000)
          August   Oliver sells the family home in Illinois for $28,500 ($931,000)
1910  Living on own Income according to the census taker (Eureka Springs)
1911   Oliver is ?cured? of Bright?s and starts a movement to put the hot springs under government control to help cure more people. Bright?s disease is a historical classification of modern medicine now known as acute or chronic nephritis.
   Bankruptcy suit filed against Oliver and his part in the Ozark Grocery Company. No outcome found
1913   Wants to return to Bloomington, Illinois, to try and manufacture his newly patented ?Trunk Tie? or ?Bundle Tying Device?. Ends up staying in Eureka Springs.
1916   Living in Eureka Springs and patents a ?Mailing Package? similar to his ?Bundle Tying Device?
1917  He and wife move back to Illinois to live with his Mother-in-law.
1920  He and wife live with her mother in DeWitt, Illinois. He has no occupation listed.
             Patents a ?Latch Device?
1924     Patents a ?Latch?
1927    Dies in Bloomington, Illinois, after being an invalid for several years from Bright?s disease. His    wife lives another 31 years as a widow.

Along that same line of observance of the QoD facing I have dug deeper into a subject I brought up on my website about the Longley brothers. That is the symbol on the hilt of the sword of the KoH. The symbol (shown below) can be followed through all their connected card companies (Card Fabrique, Globe, American Playing Card, USPC and National). (First symbol shown below) I have also found connected symbols for ones used by Telbax, Midland and the Independent Playing Card Company which are all connected to Wesley Culp. (Second Symbol shown below)
I am compiling a database of these symbols and an article/website. I will be searching out more decks to photograph and catalog at the Cleveland Convention this year to test my theory. So if you are there with an odd deck please come see me. If you are not coming I would appreciate any KoH closeup photos. My email is daveseaney@att.net

Let me add this to the conversation. On July 2, 1894, the United States Printing Company became The United States Playing Card Company. Why did they wait 4 years to start date coding? Nothing I could find in their history points to an event to start coding their cards. Production didn't change, their new factory in Norwood would not be in production until 1901. Why the change?  It seems like the coding would have started after the name change. Thoughts?

I have a list of known and unknown cancellations from the American Revenue Association. V.M.S./U.S.A. is an unknown.

That color stamp was used on decks that were "On Hand" at a business or card company when the tax went into effect. Could be the initials of a department store.

You might find this story I did about Fireside helpful.   https://pcconnections.weebly.com/mr-wilson-and-fireside-games.html

Does anyone have any cards from a card game called "Election"? I cannot find any pictures for a story I am working on about it.

Does anyone have any items, or early decks of cards, from A. Ball & Brother Company of Chicago in the late 1800s? Putting together a story about A. Ball which happens to be Annie Ball.

The deck contained 55 cards which should have made it be required for a tax stamp (Any deck with 54 cards and over) The printing on the boxes just have that USPC look.
I have several documents from the Lenawee County Historical Society where Adrian, Michigan is located. They have a deck of Cheyenne on display but never knew anything about Swastika. Same deck just a different name. That will come out in my story.
I will cover the life of Samuel Roy Beal (the man that designed Swastika and signed your document), his partner James Denny Crandall and William O. Albig (who changed Swastika to Cheyenne)

UPDATE: The story is now available at  https://fpopcg.weebly.com/swastika---cheyenne.html

Here is the story. Thanks again for the info and pictures.
https://fpopcg.weebly.com/alice-d-leys-royalty.html

Does anyone have any knowledge of a box for this deck? Or any owners? The deck is called ROYALTY but is called BOUQUET in the Hochman (NS10)  It was designed by Alice D Ley of Wayne, Nebraska. It originally came in a box with another deck called 400 and instructions for game play. Working on a story about this deck.

Here is a story about those cards.   https://fpopc.weebly.com/freedom-playing-cards.html

Here is a deck from Carthage, Missouri. All the companies existed between 1900-1920. Still researching,