Dreams of Gold and the Dust of Flat Fork: A Letter from 1878

“i dont like to bound up so close if i can get a place i will move up in your Country this fall and wea will find that gold”

Come on in and sit a spell, neighbors. I have got something special to show you today from our archives. It is a humble little scrap of paper from June of 1878, sent from right over in Flat Fork, Roane County. When you hold it, you can feel the weight of the years. The paper is yellowed and stained, with those telltale folds from when it was tucked away in a pocket or a drawer long ago. The handwriting is a bit rough—the kind of cursive a man uses when his hands are more used to a plow than a pen—and the spelling is just as he heard the words in his head.

This letter was written by a young man to his uncle, and boy, does it tell a story we can all relate to. He mentions how hard the times were back then, with wages sitting at just 75 cents a day for harvest work. He had been suffering from the ‘ague’—what we call malaria today—and he blamed the bad well water in those parts. Even though his father-in-law had deeded him fifty acres of land, the young man felt ‘bound up’ and restless. He had his eyes on the horizon, dreaming of moving up to be near his uncle.

But here is the part that really gets your imagination going. He mentions a ‘chart’ held by some other men—a map to gold! He was convinced that if he could just get away from Flat Fork, he and his uncle would find that treasure. He sounds so hopeful, even though those other men would not let anyone else see their map. It is a classic story of looking for a better life, isn’t it?

On the very last page, there is a shift. It is a receipt from January of that same year, written in a much fancier hand. It shows a man named Jahan Guinn paying off a big debt of over 268 dollars for a legal execution. Seeing those two things together—the nephew’s dreams of gold and the cold, hard reality of a legal debt—reminds us that life back then was a constant balance of hope and hardship. It makes you realize that while the world has changed plenty since 1878, the way we lean on family and dream of a brighter tomorrow stays exactly the same.

Original Transcription

Flat fork Roan Co
June 30 1878
Dear uncle i take my
pen in hand to
answer your welcom
letter which found
us all well and hope
these few lines may
find you the same
you said you was
geting a long praty
well iam glad to
hear it for times is
hard here money is
hard to get wages is
low 75 ct pr day for
harvest & i think
that i will leav
this country this
fall

for i do not like
it is an unhealthy
country for thre is
no good water in
this country well
water is not healthy
i had the ague for
along time after wea
come to this country
and it was on
account of the
country iam live in
I on my father in
land he has
made me adeed to
fifty acres but i
dont like it

and if i can Better
my self i will
leave it for idont
like to bound up
so close if i can
get a place i will
move up in your
Country this fall
and wea will
find that gold
the men that has
got that chart
will not let
any one hav it
for thay think that
they will find
it But they

[Page 4 – Receipt]
Recived Jan the 30″ 1878 of
Jahan Guinn $268.69 to be
credited on an execution in
favor of Conner & Skaggs vs. Guinn &
Prince and in my hands for
Collection
Wm Tyree Dep
for C H McClung S R C

[Mathematical notes in margin:]
7213
1534
1800 268 69
2000 3654
12547 30 52 3
1 3 x
3 07.61

26869 41500
12547 168
143.22 24700
8000
63.22