A Handshake and a Hearth: A 1892 Message from the Gwinns

“it is with great pleasure I take to write you a few lines to let you know that we are all well and hope this will find you all the same”

Pull up a chair, friends, because I have something truly special to share with you today. Imagine holding a piece of history right in your palms—two pages of lined paper, yellowed like an old leaf, with ink that has softened to a gentle brown over the last hundred years. This letter, sent from Elton in Summers County back in March of 1892, is like a quiet whisper from Samuel and Cynthia Gwinn reaching out to their kin.

Samuel starts things off with the kind of practical news that kept a family going back then. He had been in touch with a Mr. Harvey about surveying some land, and he was writing to tell his brother that the deal was set. Mr. Harvey was coming on the 27th or 28th, and Samuel wanted his brother there by his side when the work began. It is a simple reminder of how our ancestors built their lives, one boundary line and one handshake at a time, making sure things were done right and what Samuel called reasonable.

But my favorite part is when Cynthia adds her own heart to the page in a quick postscript. After the business is settled, she jumps in to make sure Aunt Jane and Uncle Laben know they are wanted. She is calling for a gathering, asking Cynthia and Ella to come along too. In those few lines, you can almost smell the woodsmoke and feel the hope for a house full of laughter. It is a beautiful balance of the work we have to do and the people we do it for.

Looking at this faded ink today, it is easy to see ourselves in the Gwinns. We all have our own surveying to do—the chores and the planning that fill our days—but at the end of the day, it is that open door and the invitation to family that really matters. It is a small, precious lesson from 1892 that still rings true in our busy world: take care of your business, but never forget to call your loved ones home.

Original Transcription

Elton Summers
Country W Va
March 21 – 1892

Dear Brother
it is with great
pleasure I take to
write you a few lines
to let you know that
we are all well and hope
this will find you all
the same I received a
answer from Mr Harvey
the 19 stating that he
would do our
surveying very reason
able and I wrote to him
to come on the 27 or 28
of this Month and you
had better come up on
the 27

as I have nothing
else to write I will
close hoping to see you
soon Yours truly
Samuel Gwinn

Mrs Jane Gwinn Dear
Aunt you must come
up with uncle Laben
if you can tell Cynthia
and Ella to come up
my best respects to
you all Cynthia Gwinn