A Heartfelt Hello from 1864: Isaac and Evoline’s News from the Home Front

“laban when I get to thinking a bout old tims I cant keep my mind to gether to write as I wish to”

Pull up a chair, friends, because I’ve got something truly special to share with you today. It’s a little window into the past, written on a June day just like this one, back in 1864. This four-page letter was penned by Isaac and Evoline Sannar in Gallia County, Ohio, and sent to their dear friends Laban and Mary Guinn. Holding it today, you can almost feel the weight of history. The paper is a soft, aged cream color, showing the distinct fold lines where it was tucked into an envelope over a century and a half ago. The brown ink is still remarkably clear, flowing in a legible cursive script that tells us the Sannars were eager to bridge the distance between them and their loved ones, despite the miles and the war.

As you read through Isaac’s words, you get a real sense of the bittersweet nature of life during the Civil War. He starts with the usual well-wishes, but the shadows of the conflict are long. He shares the heavy news that Hiram Sannar passed away at Camp Chase after a neighbor’s false testimony, and that A.J. Cadle died of fever at Camp Piatt. It’s a sobering reminder of how the war touched every family, whether through the heat of battle or the quiet tragedies of camp life. Isaac even mentions General Crook’s raid through Virginia, describing the burning of bridges and the tearing up of railroads—a major military operation that Isaac followed through letters from friends right there in the thick of it.

But even with the world seemingly on fire, the rhythms of the farm didn’t stop. Isaac takes a moment to brag just a little about his eighteen acres of corn, which he says is already ankle to knee high, and his eighteen acres of wheat. He even mentions having the finest mare and colt in the whole county! This mix of military movements and crop reports shows us how folks back then had to keep one eye on the newspaper and one eye on the plow just to survive. There is even a bit of local drama mentioned, with Isaac fuming over a stolen horse and the betrayal of neighbors.

What really tugs at the heartstrings is how Isaac ends the letter. He admits to Laban that when he starts thinking about the old times, it’s hard for him to keep his thoughts together to write. To me, this piece of history isn’t just about dates or generals; it’s about the enduring strength of friendship and the way we cling to our memories when the present gets tough. It reminds us that no matter how much time passes, the need to reach out and say we are still here and we still care is something that never changes.

Original Transcription

June the 12 1864
Dear friend I receive
youre letter the 11 of June
and was glad to hear
from you all and that you
all was well we all ar
all well at this tim and
hope truly that this letter
will find you all well
and doing well you
wanted the nues from va
I hav bin waiting for nues
from va so to answer Johns
letter but I cant get a
letter from them that I want
to get letter from I dont
know any thing a bout
berditt I heard that he moved
to som of the border contyes
and vollen tered in the union
armey John Sannar and
Emley is at home in peace

Isaiah Smith and Elisabeth
is at canelton and jest be
low A J Cadle cam
to camp piat in march
and took the fevor and
died and left his famley
in wyoma va
Benjamin Saxtons is all well
Thomas is in tharmons com
tom bogas swore a lie a
ginst hiram Sannar and
they sent him to campchase
and he died thare tharmons
has stole the last hors
father had if I had him I
could cut his throat
James arthur and Thomas
Smith was to see me last
weak arthur lives a bout
twelve miles be low me
general crook went from
fayette to newbarn and
burnt it up and new river

Bridg and tornup the rail
road for 12 miles and went to
meadow bluff and from
thare to Stanton he is kill
ing all the bushwhackers
william and John white
is with him we got a letter
from them yeserday he has
forty thousan men with him
wheat crops is bad hear my wheat
is tolrable good I hav 18 acors
and 18 acors in corn it is from
ankle to kne high I hav
most of it work out the first
time I hav 5 acors in oats and
the fineest mare and coalt in
gallia gallia co ohio it
is vary cold to day and
windey laban when I get
to thinking a bout old tims
I cant keep my mind to
gether to write as I wish
to I want you to write

to us as open as you are
tell brackensridge and
John paerson and thare
famley howdy for us
and to writ to us I will
send John a letter in
your letter please to giv
it to him and let all
your brothers see this
letter so good by
Isaac sannar and
Evoline J Sannar to
mr laban guinn and
mrs mary J guinn