I feel pretty confident this letter was written by Jacob Fisher (1823-1905) who was born in Germany in 1823 and came to Buffalo, New York in 1833 with his parents, and then came to Racine, Wisconsin about 1845. According to his obituary, he worked for many years for the Case T. M. Co. as a machinist. He did serve in the Civil War but did not enter the service until September 1864 as a recruit in Co. D, 16th Wisconsin Infantry. In this letter he claims to have enlisted in the 22nd Wisconsin but says he was “sorry” he enlisted and given that the regiment was urgently mustered in and moved out to Kentucky just a couple days after he wrote this letter, my hunch is that he was never mustered in. At least there is no one by that name appearing in the regimental roster. At the age of 36, Jacob married his first wife, Anna Stecher (1836-1911) in 1859.

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September 12, 1862

Mr. George Hall, dear sir, I now take this opportunity of writing a few lines to you to let you know that I am well at present and I hope these few lines may find you the same. I have enlisted and going to war. I should like to have come out there before I went off but I could not.

In regard to that little matter I have left it with Joeb Fisher and all the rest of my business. I am married and I am sorry that I enlisted but it can’t be helped now. I have bought a house and lot and I don’t know how I can keep it for I shall have to pay it before I can get the money, were it is coming to me. It would accommodate me very much if you would advance the money on those mules. I will throw off the interest which would make it one hundred and thirty-eight dollars. I said accommodate me but I mean my wife for I don’t know but I am past accommodation. But fools for luck, they say, and it may hit me. When you do send it, send it by express and then you will have a receipt to show that you have sent it and it will be all right. Send it to Jacob Fisher, Orfordville T., Rock county, Wisconsin

I hope I shall get a letter from you. You will please answer this at your first leisure time if you please. Direct to Jesse Edgerton, 22nd Regiment Wisconsin Vols. Racine, Wisconsin, in care of Capt. Miles

This unsigned or partial was written by a soldier who most likely served in the 37th Illinois, the 9th Missouri Infantry 9changed to 59th Illinois), the 5th Iowa Infantry, or 1st Kansas Infantry as they were brigaded together in late September 1861 at Boonville, Missouri, under the command of J. C. Kelton.

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Syracuse, Missouri
December 5th 1861

Friend Thompson,

Yours of the 1st inst. was received with pleasure. Was happy to hear that you was well but very anxious about Robert & so am I. I have done all that was in my power to ascertain the truth in regard to his destiny. You have as much information about him as I for all that I know about him is what I learnt from the Sergeant. Our sergeant has used his utmost endeavors to find out about him but cannot learn anything definite.

He was (as you have been informed) left at Humansville ¹ on the 2nd of last month. He was very bad if I can judge. He had been unwell ever since we landed at Boonville with a diarrhea but not very bad. He was able to be about but was not able to do duty & I am sorry to say that he would not listen to my advice until he was very bad & then he would not take my advice.

I wanted him to stop at Smith City but he would not, but he got along very [well] until we left Warsaw & then I done all that I could to have him stay at the hospital & the Doctor wanted him to stay but he was too ambitious for his own good and another thing that he would say that he did not like to stay with strangers, But my advice was that if he was a good boy, he would find friends. But the time come that he got so bad that he could not ride & we was ordered on a forced march. He and all that was not able to go & carry their guns and blankets and go on a quick march all day was left behind with all the knapsacks & other baggage.

He was spitting blood & blood was pooping from his bowels & you may know that he was bad. I could not do enough for him & he was always afraid that he was a burden to me & the last words that he spoke to me was that I was going to fight & he would lose all the glory. Poor fellow. He seems like a brother to me & all that I have to regret [is] that I could not do more for him that I did. And when we came back from Springfield, we did not come back the same way but I offered to go back by Humansville to learn as to what had become of him but things was in such a situation that I could not go.

One of our boys said that he saw a man that he said from the description that he gave of a man that was buried there that it must have been him. The Sergeant that you speak of was here the other day. He said that he saw you in St. Louis . He was making inquiries about Robert but we had not learned anything further.

And as to Price’s forces, there are all sorts of rumors but the half are not true. The word came to camp one day last week that Price was at Sedalia entrenching but when it was investigated, there was nothing of it. But the joke of it is that the whole brigade was ordered to march out there and when we got half way there, our scouts came in and reported all false & consequently we had to return without a chance at Price. And it is a fact that it is hard to find him for his army are so arranged that she he is about to be caught, they will scatter & turn up in some other way. [unsigned or partial]

¹ In the regimental history of the 59th Illinois Infantry, Humansville was described as a “small town in Hickory County, Mo., and is the only place where any demonstrations were made, in honor of the stars and stripes, between Boonville and Springfield. Here the soldiers of the Union were welcomed by the waiving of flags and the smiles of the women, and the kindly greetings of the citizens generally. A portion of Price’s army had passed through this place, some three weeks before, and had carried off all the goods belonging to the merchants, and had mistreated the inhabitants of the town and vicinity to such a degree, that they were heartily tired of their presence, and were rejoiced at the approach of the Federal troops….The sick of the regiment, had been increasing for the last ten days, to such an extent, that now there was no means of conveying them any farther. Thus far, they had been transported in wagons, but it was now necessary to select such as could not, in a measure, provide for themselves, and leave them behind. The Surgeon, therefore, fitted up the Meeting-house in town, in the best possible manner, and removed the sick to it. A cook, some nurses, and several days rations, were left with them. Poor fellows! they all nearly starved to death before they could get away, and three did die from the effects of disease and want of proper nourishment. After the army left, the patriotism of the ladies and gentlemen of the town, oozed out at their fingers ends, and our sick boys could get nothing from them. One man, John Clemens, of Co. H, who was very sick when taken there, died on the 4th of November. Bromwell Kitchen, of Co. F, soon followed, and Nathaniel B. Westbrook, of Co. A, died on the 20th. The others eventually found their way to the regiment.”

I have not yet learned the identity of this soldier whom I believe was probably from Ashtabula county, Ohio, and served in a three-month’s organization early in the Civil War, possibly the 19th OVI. More research is needed.

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Camp Goddard ¹
Zanesville, Ohio
June 12th 1861

Dear Etta,

I received your dear letter last night and at the same time Sam got one from Ellen. I have been waiting all of this week for a letter from our folks but have till this time heard nothing from them. Darling, you must excuse poor writing this time. I have been sick 2 to 3 days last week and although well now, I don’t feel quite so strong as I did before. I won’t be so nervous in a day or two. I hope you are well, darling. I beg of you to take better care of your (dear) self. I know it is carelessness with you. If you are real careful, dearest, and not look so much on the dark side of war, you will surely get well and I hope keep so. Since I heard you was sick, I couldn’t rest well nights not be contented day times. I always thought of you and I knew that your carelessness wouldn’t help you any in your sickness.

Darling, you must not get mad at what I say to you for you know I mean it all well and what I say to you is for your own good and also for mine so if you love me truly, my darling, and want me to feel contented here and keep in good health, then for my sake, take the best care of yourself for my sake and for your good.

We are still in this confounded camp and waiting for marching orders. I do wish they would call us in to action. We all want to go to Virginia but don’t know when we will go. The Government of this fine state is rather misusing us. We have not received our pay yet although our first month has long gone by. Our colonel started to Columbus last night to see about it and if possible get us away from here. The talk today is that all three-months men will be paid off and then sent home—that is, those who won’t go in for three years. I won’t go in for three years under any such mean government as this state has now got. I had thought of going in for three years under the U. S. Navy. It would be a good deal more healthy on the water than on land and although I have not said I would go, I can’t enlist till I get a consent from our folks and tat will be hard work for me to get it, and then further, I won’t go until I am insured that our aid is needed more than it now is.

I want you to advise me, dear one. I won’t go if you, Darling, says no. I don’t know how I can stay away from you, my dearest love, till my first campaign is up. But the next would be so much longer. Well, I will come to see you when my three months are up and then by that time I will know better and then both of us can talk it over. I won’t do anything about enlisting for three years till I see you so you can’t say I done as I wanted to without asking you.

I make awful poor work of this letter but I know you will excuse it considering where it comes from. I will do better next time.

Now about news. I am surely surprised to hear that H[arvey] J. Covell ² has been telling such lies about us. He ought to be ashamed of himself. I had a letter from him day before yesterday and he don’t like it as well there as he did when in our company. They had to build their barracks themselves and in the rain as well. They have a rather poor camp ground.

Dear Etta, kiss little Lilly for me and Fanny and Orson. [unsigned].

1 Camp Goddard in Zanesville. The camp’s first building, a barracks, was finished on May 15, 1861. Just two days later, Camp Goddard already contained nearly two thousand volunteer soldiers. The camp remained in use only during 1861.

² Harvey J. Covell (1835-1883) was the son of Silas Covell (1789-1853) and Eunice Latimer (1796-1865) of Rock Creek, Morgan township, Ashtabula county, Ohio. On June 1, 1861, Harvey joined the 23rd Ohio Infantry as a sergeant in Co. B. He later was commissioned a captain in Co. B, 6th USCT. See 1861: Harvey J. Covell to Louisa Olive Woolsey.

The following letter was written by Robert Stuart Morrison (1822-1902), the son of Thomas and Mary (Jennings) Morrison of Mount Gilead, Morrow county, Ohio. Robert was born in Green county, Pennsylvania, in March 1822. He graduated at Miami University (1852) and the Princeton Theological Seminary (1854), and until 1879 was a teacher and a minister of the gospel at Chicago and Louisville. While at the Miami University, Morrison, with five other students, founded the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity.

Morrison’s career as a minister, editor of religious publications, and teacher took him to Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, and Missouri. He edited the Louisville Presbyterian Herald from 1854 to 1860. He was also co-editor of the Louisville True Presbyterian, which was suppressed by Union military authorities in 1863, during the Civil War.

In September 1869, Morrison established Westminster Academy, a co-educational school in Waterford, Ohio, where he was principal for six years. He was also the principal of Poplar Grove Academy in Rutherford County, Tennessee. He combined his teaching duties with regular preaching. From 1879 to 1881 he worked as a financial agent to eliminate the debts of Westminster College and established the Phi Delta Theta Missouri Beta Chapter, in Fulton, Missouri. After this he preached at various locations around Missouri, and founded churches in towns such as Gravois Mills and Tuscumbia.

In his letter, Morrison speaks of the weekly newspaper recently purchased by himself, Andrew Davidson, and Stuart Robinson, which they named The True Presbyterian. The first issue of the publication was 3 April 1862. At the time, Morrison lived fifteen miles south of Louisville.

From Morrison’s letter, we learn that he made a trip out to Camp Chase for the purpose of seeing his friend, Col. Joel Allen Battle, 20th Tennessee Infantry. The colonel was taken captive during the Battle of Shiloh in early April 1862. After being held in Columbus, he was later taken to the prison at Johnson’s Island where he was not exchanged until September 1862. Two of Battle’s son’s were killed at Shiloh—William Searcy Battle (1835-1862) and Joel Allen Battle, Jr. (1838-1862).

The letter was addressed to Mary Helen Voorhees (1833-1908), the daughter of Peter Albert Voorhees (1802-1883) and Maria Suydam (1806-1883). She married John Calvin Hoagland (1827-1894) in January 1868.

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Columbus, Ohio
26 May 1862

Dear Mary,

Your kind letter of May 5th is yet unanswered though since it was written, I have written once or twice. For the variety of news on pages 1 & 2, I thank you. We get the Intelligencer in exchange for the True Presbyterian and have read its fancy remarks. As to controversy for its own sake perhaps a few love it less than Rev. Stuart Robinson. In a small way it is a little curious that each name of each proprietor of our paper have the same number of letters, viz:

Stuart Robinson
Andrew Davidson
Robert Morrison

All sons, one born in Ireland but raised and educated in Virginia, another in Scotland, but trained so far as business is concerned in New York at Carters, and the third, whom you sometimes call your friend born in Pennsylvania but raised partly in Ohio, residing afterward in Dixie’s Land.

I have been here for several days, a looker on in Venice, a listener and a note taker in the court, making out reports for the True Presbyterian. The assembly is large—somewhere between 230 & 240. Of course no delegates south of the Border States. Saturday evening they passed a paper destined, I suppose, to send the Presbyterian Church in Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri, and by & by, in some places north of us. It was Dr. Breckinridge’s paper on the State of the Country. The vote was taken by calling the ayes and noes & the vote stood 199 to 20.

The weather has been pleasant & this city is a pleasant, beautiful place. I wish to go out perhaps this p.m. to visit some friends taken prisoner at Pittsburg Landing—some of the first men of their region I have found here on their way as prisoners to Johnson’s Island at Sandusky on Lake Erie. One, and a friend, a Colonel of the 20th Tennessee, was here who had two sons killed in his regiment.

And I may not have the privilege of visiting you. Sorry for it. It is a hard penance to which I am consigned but I am loyal and yield to direction. If “I have not time” I would take it for such a privilege as to see the light of your countenance. May I not call to see you when you are abroad if I may not see you at home? e.g. at your Cousin Rev. Voorhees Gulick’s or at Brooklyn or somewhere else?

The counselor I need is of the kind that God alluded to when he said it was not good for man to be alone. That was the kind I spoke of.

In this wide work, God uses a variety of laborers & whether they should be nuns or not, some should be “mission teachers” but of course before a woman should forsake the natural, normal orbit in which God has placed her, God’s will so signifying should of course be clear, direct and unmistakable, not only to leave the one place but to go to a definite & new place. I am not in any great hurry, though I am not getting younger to marry. For one that I admire & love half so much as I do Mary of the Hermitage, I could afford to wait.

I do not wish to interfere with any arrangements for Ella’s benefit. But I must conclude whether I will or not at this time for “Books” is drawing apace at the Assembly. Whether I am ever permitted to write or see you again, may God bless you, Mary. I am either more or less than your friend, — Robert Morrison

The following letter was sent to me by Mark R. Terry who asked me to confirm his transcription of a record from the Union Provost Marshal’s Papers (see Union Provost Marshals’ File of Papers Relating to Individual Civilians, 1861–1867; Microfilm publication M345, 300 rolls; NAID: 2133278. War Department Collection of Confederate Records, Record Group 109; The National Archives in Washington, D.C.). Mark had a question particularly about the camp name and wondered if I might confirm the author’s identity. While I’m certain the author attempted to write “McLure” as the camp name—the McLure house being the headquarters of Gen. Rosecrans at the time, I am unable to confirm that the author was his g-g-g-grandfather of the same name though I think it’s likely. What’s not clear is whether the author wrote the letter from or to Camp McClure. In other words, was the McLure House used to hold prisoners? I did find some evidence that it was though it may have been only a temporary holding place. The October 19, 1861 edition of the Atlantic Democrat tells the story of a Mrs. Poole who was “placed in confinement at the McLure House, charged with aiding and abetting the escape” of her daughter charged with being a spy.

General William S. Rosecrans established his headquarters at the McLure House—a hotel on the Corner of Market and Monroe (now 12th) Streets in downtown Wheeling, West Virginia in December 1861. Rosecrans, who commanded all Union troops in western Virginia, at the time lived in Wheeling from December 1861 to March 1862.

Terry’s ancestor, Philip Obed Bosley (1818-1909) was born in and lived his entire life in Hardy county, (West) Virginia. Terry has found evidence from newspaper accounts that four men—one named “Bosley”—were arrested subsequent to the attack on the wagons of a Union foraging party not far from were his ancestor lived and it’s logical to conclude that any Confederate militia or guerrillas rounded up by the Union army would have been taken eventually to Wheeling for confinement. Terry’s ancestor was also married and had nine children by the time of his arrest in 1861.

There’s no evidence that Terry’s ancestor ever served officially in the Confederate service prior to or subsequent to his arrest, though he may have engaged in some guerrilla activity if the family bore anti-administration sentiments as Terry claims they did. Whether Rosecrans acted on Bosley’s Christmas Day petition for clemency is unknown but he was undoubtedly released sometime not long after as this part of Virginia fell under strong Union control by the spring of 1862 and most of its citizens lived unmolested.

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Wheeling, Camp McLure
December 25, 1861

To your honor General Rosecrans,

I hope you will forgive me for attempting to state my case to you. I was arrested about a month ago at my home but I had not been there more than a half hour till I was arrested. I was forced into the militia service but got released and returned to my helpless family—wife and nine children—and I have no way to maintain them only by days work and I never intend to take up arms again against the government. I am willing to take the oath.

Your humble servant, — Philip Bosley

The following letter was written by a Union soldier from the state of Pennsylvania and we know that he had a brother named Moses, but beyond that, there are very few clues that would afford us an opportunity to learn his identity. It was unsigned and there is no envelope. The letter was written on stationery of the 84th Pennsylvania but the directions he provides his brother for answering his letter appears to state that he was in Co. C of the 6th Pennsylvania Reserves (35th Penn. Volunteers). Soldiers in Co. C, 6th Pennsylvania Reserves were recruited in Blair and Westmoreland counties.

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Co. I, 84th Regt. Penn. Volunteer Infantry
Camp near Rappahannock Station. Va.
August 5, 1863

My dear brother Mose,

As it happens as I hain’t got any mail in some time, I thought that I would write a few lines to see if I can get a letter from you. I have not had a letter from you in some time. I want you to answer it as soon as you get it.

Well, Mose, we have had a hard march of it. We left camp the 10th of June and marched till the 1st of August when we arrived at Rappahannock Station where we are now and I expect to stay for some time and would like to hear from you.

We had a fight at Snicker’s Gap. There was but three wounded in our regiment. There was a hard fight yesterday with the cavalry. We seen the shells burst and heard the musketry. They was across the river. We was on picket when the firing commenced. We had to put on our cartridge box and take our gun in our hands and be ready to go in if we was wanted to.

So no more at present. So goodbye. Write soon. I have seen Harve Dishart and he said that he wanted you to write to him. Direct to Washington D. C., 6th [?] Pennsylvania Reserves, Co. C.

The following letter was written on 5 March 1862 from an encampment on Meridian Hill in Washington D. C. The soldier’s name appears to be Charles Jessup but I have not been able to identify his regiment. He must have only just arrived in Washington having passed through Pittsburg and across Pennsylvania to Baltimore before arriving in Washington. He was, therefore, likely to be from a “western” state like Ohio, Illinois, Indiana or Michigan. My hunch would be the latter.

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Washington [D. C.]
March 5, [1862]

William Castle,

It is with much pleasure that I take my pen in hand to let you know that I am well. I should like to see you and all of the rest of the folks that I used to be with around there. Although I am now far from you all, I haven’t forgotten about you all that I used to see when I was there. Do you remember the meeting they had at the log school house the night before I started for the rapids. Ask Enoly is she has forgotten that she has. Tell her to put on her thinking cap. The rest of the folks that I used to know when I was there—tell them that I would like to see them and be there to go to the [ ] with them and you.

I have seen the large mountains that are in Pennsylvania. I have seen where they dug through rocks from one to two hundred feet. I have rode from a quarter of a mile to a mile and a quarter under ground. I have seen some pretty nice cities since I left there and some that weren’t so nice. Pittsburg was the worst looking place that I saw since I left there and Baltimore was the nicest place I did see.

I should like to live in Baltimore. I was in the fort in Baltimore when I was there. I tell you that the large guns looked pretty saucy to point at a man. Our men had to keep the town guarded for fear of the rebels breaking onto them. We stopped in Baltimore one day so I had a good chance to see the city. Miles Filey and myself went downtown while I was here and the lieutenant of our company and we had a pretty nice view of the city.

We are on Meridian Hill. We have a pretty good sight for to look out on the Potomac river and see what’s on there. The Sixth is within the half a mile of us. I am down to the Sixth now. I do like this part of the country very well.

As I find my sheet pretty near full, I will bring my letter to a close. You must excuse my bad writing for I haven’t no place to write but to take my pen and paper on my lap and write. So goodbye to you, — Charles H. Jessup

This letter was written by Elizabeth Fullerton (1822-1899), a native of Country Antrim, Ireland, who married George B. Hill (1818-1895) on 29 May 1850 at Ballycastle, Ireland, and came to the United States shortly afterward. Elizabeth was the daughter of James Fullerton (1790-1841) and Marcella Stewart (1790-1864).

Elizabeth wrote the letter to Alexander Turney Stewart (1803-1876), an Irishman who moved to New York and made his multimillion-dollar fortune in the most extensive and lucrative dry goods store in the world. Stewart was born in Lisburn, Ulster, Ireland, and abandoned his original aspirations of becoming a Presbyterian minister to go to New York City in 1823. He spent a short time teaching before returning to Ireland to receive the money his grandfather had left him, purchase some Belfast linens and laces, and return to New York to open a store.

Stewart had extraordinary skill in business, and by 1848 he had built a large marble-fronted store on Broadway between Chambers Street and Reade Street, which was devoted to the wholesale branch of his business. In 1862 he built a new store covering an entire city block between Broadway and Fourth Avenue and between 9th and 10th streets. It was eight stories tall and attracted the wonder and business of upscale New York. Trainloads of wealthy customers from outlying cities came to shop. Stewart made most of his money through wholesaling and especially New York City real estate. He opened branches of the company in other parts of the world and owned several mills and factories. He had an annual income of US $1,843,637 in 1863 (equivalent to $35.8 million in 2023). His business success is estimated to have made him one of the twenty wealthiest people in history as of 2007, with a fortune equivalent to approximately US$90 billion in 2012.

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Mr. A. T. Stuart,

Dear sir—it is in compliance with a request from Mother that I now write you. She is living at a place called Walkmile Bally Castle, County Antrim, Ireland, about 40 miles from Belfast where you dispatched the brig Jessie Banfield loaded with corn & provisions for the suffering poor. She having seen this announcement in their weekly paper hopes that in you she has a lost nephew, or cousin, she having both of that name in this country, but with the early history of the former. Mother used to make her children more familiar, she having lived in her brother Alex’s house while going to school in Belfast where he was a merchant for some years, I do not recollect how many.

About the year 1811 he with his wife & two children Thomas and Mary Jane left Belfast for New York where they arrived safe, Mother having a letter from them shortly after. The next news she got of them was that her brother & his wife were both deadm leaving their children amongst strangers, On hearing this she wrote at once in hopes of getting them home again. Grandmother Stuart was then living & wished to have the children brought up in her care, but this was not to be for no letter that Mother or her wrote was ever answered so they concluded that someone had taken the children to raise who did not wish them to know their whereabouts.

All Mother’s brothers came to this country and are all dead but one. George who was a merchant in Danville, Kentucky, when we last heard from him. Grandmother lived with us after her last son came to this country. She died in 1826. Mother & one sister is all that is living of that family. Mother is now 70 years of age & Aunt Faris 5 years older. I am Mother’s fourth daughter. Was married in 1850 to George B. Hill, a second cousin of my own who had been in this country for nine years previous & had come home for a few months to visit his native land. He & I came to Illinois where we still live & have a comfortable home. George getting land enough for a large farm though we have none.

Now dear sir, you will excuse me this writing you when I tell you that Mother’s last words to me were “try to find out brother Alex’s children, They were as dear to me as you are.” Should you be her nephew, I will be glad to communicate the news to her not because you are rich & great but because of your benevolence & generosity towards your suffering countrymen for which you will, I trust, realize all the blessings contained in the 49 Psalm, 3 first verses. Please address me, Mrs. E. Hill, Iacusa, Christian county, Illinois. Should you ever visit Illinois, you will receive a hearty welcome from myself, your sincere friend, — E. Hill

I believe this letter was written by Andrew Jackson (“Jack”) Culp of Co. F, 8th Ohio Infantry (3 months). The regiment was organized 29 April through 2 May 1861 at Camp Taylor near Cleveland (and was mustered into service for 3 months on 2 May. Its nine companies were composed of men from northern Ohio, with Co. B representing the Hibernian Guards. The 8th Ohio was transferred on 3 May to Camp Dennison, near Cincinnati where they remained until June 22, 1861. Many of the soldiers in the regiment reenlisted for three years but it doesn’t look like Jack did.

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Camp Dennison
June 20th 1861

In answer to your letter of the 19th, it conveyed very interesting accounts. Now Jim if ever you see that self named sergeant, just give him a sufficient dressing. Every statement he has made was false. The only office he ever had was Officer of the Guard House and the reason of his holding that station was refusing to permit having the Stars & Stripes in his tent. He refused to let it remain in his tent and was marched into the Guard House immediately. And as for the conduct of the soldiers in the town of Milford, it was all a point blank lie unless he was actor because there has been no conduct of such a nature in this camp to my knowledge. Now Jim, just expose him to all the community and let him be respected likewise.

As for your drill officer Mok, just tell him that he has our wishes as to his success but they would be more friendly if he had remained. Tell him to give the boys plenty of fatigue. Now Jim, you should have been here and have seen their escort out of camp. Three groans was about all the expression of feeling toward them. But success to the four fellows now in their different occupations—drilling, lying, &c.

Well Jim, I will close by giving you the most interesting news. We leave tomorrow morning at ten o’clock. We are all right. Answer soon as received. From your friend, — Jack Culp