A Journey Back Home: A Brother’s Letter from 1865

“Labem the war is over and We are looking with Strait forward Eyes Toward Va we are thinking of Getting Back On our own dung hill once more.”

Come on in and sit a spell, neighbors. I’ve got something special to show you from the archives today. It’s a letter from the spring of 1865, just as the dust was settling from the Civil War. I’m holding the original two pages right now; the paper is lined and shows the gentle wear of time with a few stains and those soft creases you get from a letter being folded and unfolded by worried hands. The ink, a deep brownish-black, still stands out clearly against the page, carrying the voice of a man named John G. Gwinn as he reaches out to his brother, Laban.

John was writing from Sligo, Ohio, and you can tell he’d been through the ringer. He mentions he’s finally feeling a “greateal better” after some health struggles, though he still has some “bad spells” to contend with. But even with his own ailments, his mind is fixed on the future. Now that the war is over, he and his neighbors are looking “with Strait forward Eyes” back toward their old home in Virginia. He’s even planning a trip in June just to see if it’s safe enough to move the whole family back. It’s a poignant reminder of that restless, hopeful, and nervous energy that filled the country during the Reconstruction era.

What really tugs at the heartstrings—and shows the grit of the time—is how John grapples with the lingering bitterness of the conflict. He doesn’t hold back his feelings about the “Rebels” or “King Jeff” Davis. The news of Lincoln’s assassination and the hunt for traitors is fresh on his mind, and you can feel the heat of his conviction. Yet, even with all that weight on his shoulders, he still takes a moment to mention the wet weather and how the fruit trees are looking. It’s that beautiful mix of the monumental and the mundane that makes history feel so alive.

Reading John’s letter today reminds us that healing a divided home takes more than just a signed treaty. It takes time, travel, and a whole lot of courage to face the people you once called enemies. It’s a story of a family trying to find their way back to their “own dung hill,” looking for peace in a world that had seen so much war. It’s a little piece of the past that feels very human, reminding us that we’re all just trying to get home.

Original Transcription

Sligo p.o. Clinton County O
May the 12th 1865
Mr Laban Gwinn Dear Brother I
Received a letter from you Sum time
a go and it found us all well Except
my Self I Can Say to you that I am
a greateal Better now than when I Recvd
Your letter I am able to walk around
prety Smart I Still have Sum Very bad
Spells but Sum good ones So I can put
up With most any thing that their is any good
at all about it This leaves the rest all
Will Bowde had a Severe Spell a few days
ago But has got over it Pattersons is all
Well and the folks Generaly and has been
Ever Since we come here
Labem the war is over and
We are looking with Strait forward Eyes
Toward Va we are thinking of Getting Back
On our own dung hill once more I
Expect to Start about the first of June
up that way my Self and See what the
Times is any how we cant get no letters
From there and I intend to go my self and
See whether it will be Safe to move Back
This fall or not John Harvey is going with
Me the hold hog live or dye he wants
To Bye him Self a farm up there if the Contry
Pleases him he is a Son of the oald man we
Live with they are wealthy People good
Ones too James Reynolds Got a letter Va
From one of The Rogers Boys from Kanawha
He Stated That the Reb Soldiers was dis
Banded and Come home and wanted the

[Page 2]
Give our Best love to all the friends
union people to come back and live
Friendly with them for my part I have
Been away So long that the fried ship
That I once had is all gon never to
Return I thank them I have plenty of friends
Here with out making frien of Rebels if there
is no union men up there to Neighbor with
I will be a family to my self
Tell Chares. Burns
That the Confederacy is Sum what Sma
Shed down That King Jeff is panting
from place to place to try to make
His essape but I hop he will Soon go in
The Same way That his Brother Booth did
and the very Charlys Brother Bowls & Co
is going the 19th of This month at indian
opolis it is time all Such Traitors as he
is was being worked up and Minkling in their
Boots for the Great day of Vengence is at
Hand – But I Suppose it will be the
Same Story as usuel when they see danger
They will claim that they have always
Been Good union men But that wont
Pay the Debt – I have nothing of impor
tance to writ it is ver wet now folks have
Been Stopped about planting wheat looks fine
Plenty aples Peaches cherys & on
We are getting along
Fine plenty to eat and wear we havent heard
from B Gwinn yet if you have Got any news
from him you must let us Know
You must write Soon as you get this and maby we
will get the answer before we Start to Va yours
until Death John. G. Gwinn to Laban Gwinn