A Neighborly Note from Long Ago: The Tale of the Unpaid Beef

“I take my pen to rite you A few lines and hope it will bee no offense to you”

Pull up a chair and settle in, friends, because I have found a real treasure in the archives today. It is just a small scrap of history, really—a single page of paper that has turned a deep, golden yellow over the last hundred and sixty years. You can see the dark brown ink and the heavy creases where it was folded up tight, likely tucked into a pocket or a ledger long ago. It is a humble little letter, but it tells a story that feels just as human as a conversation over a garden fence.

Back on March 18, 1865, a fellow named Benjamin Kutter Jr. sat down in Delphi to write to his neighbor, Ira Benguinn. Now, 1865 was a momentous year for our country, but for Benjamin, the pressing matter was a bit closer to home. He was writing to kindly remind Mister Guinns about some beef they had settled on the previous fall. It seems Ira owed him 220 cents, and their neighbor Brecken Riggs owed another 279 cents. Benjamin was not being pushy; he just gently suggested that the money could be mailed in a letter or even left at the local store, Simpson and Bragconer, right there in town.

There is something so touching about the way folks handled their business back then. Benjamin starts off by saying he hopes his letter will not cause any offense. In a world where every penny counted, he was trying to balance the need to get paid with the desire to keep his friendships intact. He even asks Ira to pass the word along to Breckenrige about the debt. It is a reminder that back in those days, your neighbors were your lifeline, and your reputation was everything.

When we look at this fragile piece of paper today, it reminds us that history is not just about big battles or famous speeches. It is about the small, everyday threads that weave a community together—like a handshake deal over a winter supply of meat or a polite note sent across the county. It is a little slice of Delphi life that shows us that no matter how much time passes, being a good neighbor and settling your scores soon and oblige never goes out of style.

Original Transcription

March the 18 1865
sir Mister guinns I take
my pen to rite you A few
lines and hope it will
bee no offense to you
as you remember you
got som Beef of mee
last fall and hant
seteld yet your
Bill was $220 cts and
Brecken Riggs was $279 cts
I wish you would see
Breckenrige and tell
him I would like to
have the money you can
put it in A leter
and send it or leave it
at simpsons and Bragconer
store in Delphi

Setel soon and
oblige your frend
Benjamin Kutter
Jr
to Ira Benguinn