A Little Mistake and a Lot of Heart: A 1895 Sheriff’s Note

“The Clerk will put it back on the books for 1895 & then you can pay for both years – There will be no cost or interest on it”

Step back in time with me for a moment to a quiet morning in June of 1895. I was just looking through some old papers from Fayetteville, West Virginia, and I came across a lovely piece of our history—a letter from Sheriff E. G. Hinman to Mr. Laban Gwinn. It’s a single sheet of lined paper, now a warm cream color with those soft, yellowed edges that only a century of history can produce. You can see the crisp fold lines where it was tucked away for safekeeping, and the black ink from the Sheriff’s pen is still as clear as if he wrote it yesterday, looping in that beautiful cursive of the era.

In this letter, the Sheriff is writing to clear up a little tax matter with Mr. Gwinn. He explains that there’s a remaining balance of $16.88. Now, it seems someone made a bit of a clerical hiccup at the office, and 249 acres of land had accidentally been dropped from the books! But instead of the stern warnings or fines we might expect today, the Sheriff writes with such a neighborly spirit. He tells Mr. Gwinn that they’ll just put that land back on the books for the current year, and he makes it a point to say there won’t be any extra interest or penalties added on. It’s just a simple matter of getting the record straight between two people.

Looking at this today, it’s about more than just a tax bill. It’s a window into a world where a sheriff and a citizen worked things out with a hand-written note and a sense of fairness. In our busy, digital lives, there’s something heartening about seeing how folks in Fayette County took care of one another and their business with such straightforward honesty. It reminds us that at the end of the day, history is truly made of these small, fair-minded moments between neighbors that keep a community together.

Original Transcription

E. G. HINMAN,
SHERIFF OF FAYETTE COUNTY.
FAYETTEVILLE, W. VA.

C. C. HARRIS,
J. M. KOONTZ,
DEPUTIES

June 10th 1895

Mr Laban Gwinn
Prince

Dear Sir
I find that the balance of your tax is $16.88 This does not include the 249 acres which was dropped from the books by mistake. The Clerk will put it back on the books for 1895 & then you can pay for both years – There will be no cost or interest on it You can send a check or Money Order for the 16.88 sometime next week and I will send you tax recpts

Yours truly
E. G. Hinman