An 1861 Letter from Woman to Her Sister Describing Events Related to the Civil War and Brutal Axe Murder

L. 2pg. 9 " x 8 ". June 4th 1861. Whitehall. A letter that discusses events linked to the Civil War and a particularly gruesome axe murder: "... It is hard times for certain as so many of the banks have gone down since the Government troubles all banks that were secured by southern bonds are smashed... Alfred Worcester has enlisted in the Army... A horrible murder was committed three weeks ago last Saturday two miles above Wilmington and about eight miles from here. An old man by the name of mace his wife and an adopted son 17 or 18 years old wer [sic] the victims. Two men were riding along the road about half a mile distant from the house when they heard (truncated) cries of help and upon arriving at the house ther [sic] lay the old man near the gate shot and also cut with an ax near the porch lay the boy with his brains beat out with a club the old lady was lying on the porch with her head severed from her body with an ax. The house was burning, the beds having been set afire in the upper story. It was known that the old man had a great amount of money which he kept in a safe in the house the safe was iron but could not be found after the house was burned. Intense excitement prevailed until the murderers were caught (or supposed murderers). Nothing else was talked of for a great while... ". It is difficult to discern which Wilmington and Whitehall are referred to in the letter, as a number of towns in the U.S. bear those names. A reference to army worms earlier in the letter makes it more likely that the author lived in a Whitehall in the North, as army worms tend to attack crops in Northern states. The letter is in excellent condition. The left, right, and bottom margins are all rounded, giving the letter the appearance of a circle with an arc section removed. There is some slight staining and the usual mailing folds (Inventory #: 1176)