Terrible thing.
And you have letters that old? That’s like the stuff of museums!
Wow.
The oldest thing I have is a picture of my great grandfather, grandfather and pop when he was 18. Pop came from Italy as a kid, but it’s still only a 1938 picture.
Not the civil war!! Wow.
Civil War era is not that old and those letters are not of any great value to anyone but us. I do have a musket that my fifth great grandfather used, it has some value but not great due to condition, I’d be afraid to fire it. Restoration would be fairly costly. There are groups who go around firing their muskets here on New Year’s Eve. I’ve often thought I’d enjoy joining them.