The Letter That Showed Up At The Post Office – 150 Years After It Was Written

Many letters and packages pass through each post office every day, simply going from one place to another with the help of the people in between. Civilizations have been writing letters since 500 BCE and the first ever stamped letter was marked under Queen Victoria’s reign in 1840. Before that, letters were not even enclosed in an envelope, and for this story, that is exactly where the curiosity started. Millions of letters arrive at people doorsteps each day across the world but it’s not every day that a letter catches the attention of the postal workers however that was exactly what happened in this case. Nobody could have known that a small post office in Michigan was about to contribute some very important information regarding the American Civil War. Better yet, that the information was first hand coming from an active soldier. Occasionally, people find things with great historical importance, but they are often looking for it in a particular place. Rarely do people stumble across something that can add real depth to something that happened in the past.

Unusual Looking Letter

It was in 2015, at a post office in Michigan, that something exciting happened. As the workers continued with their day to day tasks, one of them noticed a peculiar looking letter. Although its postmark made it appear as if it was recent, the letter itself looked as though it was from a completely different time. Intrigued by the letter, staff member Lori Boes wanted to have a look at what was inside the envelope – however, this went against office protocol.

Where Did It Come From?

Amazingly enough, simply by holding the letter in her hands, she knew that the letter wasn’t recent and in fact, it looked ancient. Where had this letter come from? Lori wondered if it was real, or perhaps someone just playing a prank on the post office.

On the envelope, the address looked to have been written with an old fashioned fountain pen and the edges were crinkled. After working at the post office for a while, she had certainly never seen anything like this before and she knew she needed to investigate, but she never expected to find out what she did.

Different Types Of Font

As she held the letter in her hand, she had never felt more curious than what she did at that moment. Examining the letter, even more, she saw that the postcode was in a different font in relation to the rest of the writing. A font that resembled a much more modern font in comparison to the fountain pen scrawl.

Speaking to a magazine, Lori said, “Except for the ‘Received Unsealed’ sticker on the back, there was no sign that the packet contained anything other than, say, an authorization to hold mail.” For her, the story of the letter was about to become very exciting.

Conflicting Features

The town in which the Michigan post office was situated was in Newaygo, and upon looking at the postmark, Lior was stunned to see that the letter’s origin, was around 40 miles away in Grand Rapids. The postmark was dated, April 23, 2015, and unusually, there was no return address.

Nowadays, it is very common to include the address in which it must be returned if it cannot be delivered. The more Lori analyzed the letter, the more captivating it became. Questions were swirling around her head and she couldn’t rest until she had all of the answers.

Mystery Package

Craving the answers to her questions and feeling as though she was holding something of significance, Lori Boes decided she had no other option than to break the rules and she hoped it would be worth it. Taking a deep breath, and checking there wasn’t anyone watching her, she tore the envelope open and there inside, was yet another envelope.

Who would have thought it? The mystery package had yet another mystery package inside! Showing its age, along with the paper’s worn edges, the packaging had also begun to turn brown and the style of the writing certainly implied the letter was from a much different time, as well as perhaps someone of a specific age.

What Did They Say?

All of us have the ability to look at a range of handwriting examples and can clearly see, and most of the time can work out how old the person is from the style of their writing. As she peered inside, the second envelope looked just as old, and it holds a wealth of interesting information.

As Lori opened it, she could see that it was in fact full of little letters, saying “Some were in perfect shape. You could read every word.” Now unable to put the letters down, she began to read them, and she couldn’t believe what they revealed.

Lots Of Letters

Opening each letter, excitement raced through Lori’s body. Feeling as if she had found a set of secret letters, she was beyond curious as to what they would say. No postage stamp appeared on the letters, and the postmark could just be seen, Lior understood that the package looked as though the letter’s journey began in the town of Virginia, in Norfolk.

The recipient read as Orrin W.Shephard, and Lori later found out that the gentlemen lived in the same area as the to where the post office was located, but what did it all mean?

A Letter From A Guard

As Lori started to look through one of the letters, it read, “My Dear Parents, I received your ever-welcome letter last Sunday, and I just returned from guard duty. I was just in the right mood to write so I will try it. We left Union Mills the next day after I sent you the letter.”

Taking a seat, Lori felt as if she had just dived into a real-life book, and a picture of what she was reading began to build in her mind, and she was right. Not only did the letters look old, but as she read them, she realized that her suspicions were correct.

Telling Someone’s Story

Continuing the letter it said, “As we passed Fairfax Courthouse, we marched about six miles when we were drawn up in line of battle. But nothing hapend [sic]; only a few of our pickets taken prisoners. The next morning we took three Prisoners Rebels…”

Unfortunately, at this point, the letter became a little too difficult to make sense of and Lori was unable to read much more of the writing. This was a handwriting style that she had never done herself nor had she saw much of, but there was another clue on the envelope.

Piece Of History

Imprinted in red and blue ink, there was a stamp that illustrated a battle of some sort, with the lettering “The War For The Union”. Lori was stunned with what she was reading and the information she had noticed on the outside of the packaging.

Talking to a magazine she explained, “Suddenly I felt the enormity of what was in my hands. My heart leaped in my throat. I was holding a piece of Americana. I was mortified that I’d ripped open the outer envelope.” What had she found?

Correspondance From The Civil War

It was clear that what she was holding in her hand, was letters between a soldier of the civil war and his family. Panicking, she wondered how she would be able to rectify the damage she had caused by ripping the envelope open.

There in front of her was a handful of correspondence, two finished letters, and one unfinished letter, however, all were addressed to the same people, the writer’s parents and what seemed to be his younger brother, Albert and there was more besides letters.

Finding The Owner

Astonishing, among the letters, there was also a black and white photograph of four young soldiers in uniform, sat in the woods, having something to drink. Lori was holding an incredible piece of history, that offered a first-hand insight into the lives of a soldier at that time.

At this point, she knew that she had to be honest and confess to opening the letter. Getting it back to its rightful owner had become much more important than her job, so she contacted her district manager, Chuck Howe and told him everything.

Piecing Everything Together

Straight away Chuck got in contact with a historian named Jenny Lynch, who worked for the United States Postal Service. Due to the letters authentic appearance, the letters were passed onto Dan Piazza, who was an expert from the Smithsonian National Postal Museum.

After inspecting many aspects of the letter, its authenticity was confirmed and it was then that Steve Kochersperger, a USPS researcher dealing with letters from the civil war, was set to work.

Talking To The Public

The letters were signed by a soldier named Nelson Shephard, and were dated at around 150 years old! Kochersperger explained, “There were no descendants looking for Nelson Shephard. Rather, it felt like Nelson Shephard was looking for us to tell his story.”

Everyone involved had no idea how the letters managed to make it to the post office after all this time. With a need to see if a member of the public had any further information, a story about the find was launched on the Smithsonian Museum website with the hope someone would come forward, and they did.

How Could She Trace The Family?

It wasn’t long until a woman from Spring, Texas named Courtney Cresta came forward and said the letters looked similar to those that her grandmother, Nancy Cramblit had found, following her husband’s passing, who had been an antique collector.

Having no idea how to get the package to a member of the Shephard family, and being completely unaware of the letters historical significance, the 74-year-old thought the best thing to do, was to send the letters to the post office that related to the address on the letters. The grandmother hoped that someone there would know a member of the family and could send the letters on.

Details In The Letters

Kochersperger became attached to the letters and wanted to hand them over to someone who knew Nelson Shepard, saying “I identified with [Shephard] as a boy off to see the world. I could also identify with his parents since I have five kids of my own.” He went on to discover that Shephard was born in 1843, to Orrin and Sarah Shephard and had two younger siblings.

A member of the 26th Michigan Volunteer Regiment, he described a trip they took to the Capitol Building, “the finest piece of architecture in the United States… A large mass of stone and iron, there is scarcely any wood about it. It is all white and completely filled with the most beautiful paintings I ever saw.”

Safe Place

The letter included quaint details about the weather, the soldier’s duties and his sister’s husband. “It is rain one day and shines the next – We are enjoying ourselves hugely here. Nothing to do but stand guard once in a while and then play – He is as fleshy as I ever saw him”.

Further research showed that Shephard passed away in 1864 and since being found, the letters have filled the hearts of many people and offered a rare glimpse into life on the front line. Now kept say by experts, the letters reside at the Smithsonian National Postal Museum in Washington.

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