Voices From The Past

From March through early October of this year, we were engaged in what was, to me, a bittersweet venture. We had contracted to disassemble a two story farm house built in the 1870’s. The home had been built by the first member of the family to migrate from Virginia. It was occupied by him and his descendants until the 1970’s. I have an overabundance of natural curiosity, and have since learned enough about this particular family to just about write a book on this branch. Well, enough material for several posts, anyhow. There are a couple of “things that make you go hmmm” discovered while taking the house apart also. This one will be about some things I found in the attic before de-construction began. I say the attic, but it was really an unfinished portion of the second floor, that served as a storage area. To the casual observer, it would have appeared to be empty. But I had to know for sure. The roof beams sloped down to meet the floor, up against the outside wall. There were a couple of places where the floor boards didn’t quite reach the wall. So, flashlight in hand, I got down on my knees and crawled over to inspect. I didn’t really expect to find anything, but lo and behold, my flashlight beam lit up some folded papers that had turned a nice shade of tan with age. When I saw the style of writing, I felt a thrill of discovery. I very carefully retrieved them, and continued my search. There were several more places where letters lay below the floorboards. They weren’t damaged by vermin or rodents, so I have not yet figured out how they got there. The one I would like to share today is from the father of the man who built the house, to his sister. This man’s name was Richard Ivanhoe Cocke , and he was born August 13, 1820 on the family estate, “Clover Pasture”, in Powhatan county, Virginia. His sister was Rowena Glowina Cocke, born there also, on January 1st, 1823. This letter is dated October 15th, 1835. He was 15, and away at school, and writing home to encourage his younger sister, then 12, to continue her education, as well.

This last image is the way that letters were addressed and mailed back then. Envelopes were not in use. You wrote your letter, folded it, and then "backed" it. The address was simply written on the back and then the letter was sealed with a drop of sealing wax where the folds came together.

If you click on the images, you should get a version large enough to read. It is a fascinating glimpse into a time that will never come again. It is very difficult to read these beautiful words from a young man on his way to becoming a cultured, genteel gentleman, and then to realize that the privileges afforded him and others of the planter class were paid for by the bondage of an entire race. On the 1860 census, he is residing in his beloved Powhatan county. He owns real estate worth $44,410, and personal property worth $15,622. Rowena is married with 2 young daughters. The Civil War, needless to say, wipes out that way of life. On the 1870 census, Richard is living in a small township in Buckingham county. He owns real estate worth $10,000 and has personal property valued at $5000. His son, John, is finishing his schooling at the University of Virginia, at Charlottesville. Also living in Richard's household are Rowena's 2 daughters. Rowena departed this life on March 17, 1861. Sometime after this census, Richard and family migrated to land in Kentucky that he had inherited from his father in the 1850's. He died here in Ballard county on August 30, 1873. His beautifully written letter though captures a moment in time, of a young man with his whole life before him, taking time to write home to an adored younger sister. I'm not family, but I think he would be pleased that these letters will be preserved, instead of lost, like that long-ago way of life.