Voices from the Post: A Heartfelt Letter from 1865 Jackson County

“I hop when thes few lines comes to hand that tha may find you in good helth”

Pull up a chair, friends, because I’ve got something special to share with you today. Nestled in our collection is a humble two-page letter, written by a man named George D. Birdit on a warm June day back in 1865. When you hold it, you can see the blue lines on the paper and the ink that has faded to a gentle, sepia brown over the last century and a half. There are some stains and folds that tell the story of a letter that was carried close and kept safe, and if you look at the top corner, you can still see the faint mark of an embossed stamp. It is written in a simple, phonetic hand—the kind of writing that sounds just like a neighbor talking over a fence.

George was writing from Jackson County just as the shadow of the Civil War was finally lifting. He tells his friend about how the world is shifting under their feet. With the prospect of finding oil, land prices were climbing to ten or twelve dollars an acre—a fortune for many back then! But he also paints a picture of the daily struggle; corn was a dollar a bushel and coffee was thirty-five cents a pound. Despite the high costs, George finds reason to be thankful, noting that the wheat is good and the corn is looking well, showing that same steady resilience our community has always been known for.

It is truly something to hear him talk about the movement of people in those days. He mentions neighbors heading off to Ohio and shares the news that folks were leaving Greenbrier fast for the ‘westeren country’ because times were so hard. Living right on the turnpike between Ravenswood and Charleston, George saw the pulse of a changing nation firsthand. He even gives his friend directions on how to reach him by water, landing at Ravenswood or Mill Creek, making the distant past feel just a short boat ride away.

Reading George’s words today reminds us that though the prices and the ways we travel change, the things that matter stay the same. We still look for hope in the next harvest and wish for the health and happiness of our friends. George’s ‘few lines’ are more than just faded ink; they are a bridge across time, connecting us to the hearts of those who called these hills home long before we did.

Original Transcription

Jackson county
June the 23 1865

Direct to Jackson county
fishers point
Gorge D Birdit

Dear friend after my love and
best resput to you I will in
forme you that we are all
well and I hop when thes
few lines comes to hand that
tha may find you in good
helth I received your kind
leter and was glad to hear
from you you say you are
not agoing to stay wheare
you are I doant know when I
will go back fore times is so
hard ther now that a man
cant live ther now without
he has a heap of money so I ca
nt tel when I wil go back
you wanted me to tel you kn
ow what land is worth
hear the prospect of

giting oil hear has maid
land rise land hear with
some improvement on is a
seling from ten to twelve
doleres per acre and some times
moore you wanted to know
what kind of country this is
it is a toleble good country
we have right good wheat
this year and our corne looks
right well now evry thing
is very high hear corne is
one doler a bushel and wheat
is two doleres a busheles and
meat is 25 to 30 cents a pound
cofey is 35 cents a pound buter
is 25 cents a pound there is
a prospect fore good cropes
hear I saw simon Prukley
the other day on his way to

ohio we are a looking for him
back evry day he is agoing
to sel his plase if he can and
buy land hear simeon sai
d the pepel in greenbrier
was well when he lef ther
ther is a heap of pepel leav
ing greenbrier very fast
and going to the westeren
country tha say times
is very hard there now
we live on the turnpike th
at comes from ravenswood
to charleston if you come
buy water you can land
at ravenswood ore at
mill crick I will close
fore this time rite soon
as you git this so good
buy