Homeowner finds letter from 1886 hidden behind a baseboard of his Nunica, Michigan home


Homeowner finds letter written in 1886 still in its original envelope hidden behind the baseboard of his Michigan home while renovating

  • Erik Erhorn found a century-old letter among other relics while renovating his Nunica, Michigan home 
  • The letter, written by Charles V. Warren is dated August 3 of 1886 and is addressed to Mr. Medad Spencer, who was born in New York in 1831
  • Warren wrote to Spencer to ask him to consider purchasing a large parcel of land from him
  • Family records indicate that Medad Spencer lived on the property until his death in 1919
  • Erhorn purchased the home and the property it sits on in 2017 from a widow
  • The widow’s family purchased the land from Erhorn’s ancestor decades earlier
  • Erhorn also found an old leather belt hidden under some carpet and a promotional brochure for a washboard

A Michigan homeowner found a letter dating back to 1886 still in its original envelope hidden in the baseboard of his home while doing renovations.

Erik Erhorn, who serves as the Crockery Township Supervisor in Nunica was doing work on his home with his brother Tyler when they found the historic letter along with other relics.

The letter, written by Charles V. Warren, is dated August 3 of 1886 and is addressed to a Mr. Medad Spencer, who was born in New York in 1831, and later moved to Nunica.     

Erik Erhorn, who serves as the Crockery Township Supervisor in Nunica, Michigan, found the 1886 letter hidden behind a baseboard

Erik Erhorn, who serves as the Crockery Township Supervisor in Nunica, Michigan, found the 1886 letter hidden behind a baseboard

The letter, written by Charles V. Warren is dated August 3 of 1886 and is addressed to Mr. Medad Spencer, who was born in New York in 1831, and later moved to Nunica

The letter, written by Charles V. Warren is dated August 3 of 1886 and is addressed to Mr. Medad Spencer, who was born in New York in 1831, and later moved to Nunica

Warren was writing to Spencer to ask him to consider purchasing a large parcel of land from him

Warren was writing to Spencer to ask him to consider purchasing a large parcel of land from him

Family records indicate that Medad Spencer lived on the property until his death in 1919

Family records indicate that Medad Spencer lived on the property until his death in 1919

‘From August 3 of 1886, M. Spencer, Sir..’ the letter begins. 

Warren was reaching out to Spencer to ask him to consider purchasing a large parcel of land from him.  

‘Charles V. Warren of Hart wanted Medad to sell his property down here, and buy the property up in Hart, his 160 acres,’ Erhorn told Fox 17 News.

The letter goes on to describe the valuable land. 

‘And it talks about, you know, the good tillage, the streams that run through it, and then the good timber… there’s good rail timber, good buildable timber, plenty of wood… small brooks running with trout,’  Erhorn explained. 

Erhorn purchased the home and the property it sits on in 2017 from a widow whose family just so happened to have  purchased the land from Erhorn's ancestor decades earlier

Erhorn purchased the home and the property it sits on in 2017 from a widow whose family just so happened to have  purchased the land from Erhorn’s ancestor decades earlier

Erik and his brother Tyler found the letter still in its original envelope behind a baseboard below a window

Erik and his brother Tyler found the letter still in its original envelope behind a baseboard below a window

Erhorn also found an old leather belt hidden under some carpet and a promotional brochure for a washboard

Erhorn also found an old leather belt hidden under some carpet and a promotional brochure for a washboard

1886- A Historic Year in the United States of America

February 6–9 – The Seattle riot of 1886: Anti-Chinese sentiments result in riots in Seattle, Washington

May 8 – Pharmacist Dr. John Stith Pemberton invents a carbonated beverage that will be named ‘Coca-Cola’

June 2 – Grover Cleveland marries Frances Folsom in the White House, the only president to wed in the executive mansion

October 28 – In New York Harbor, U.S. President Grover Cleveland dedicates the Statue of Liberty.   

The letter has remained under the baseboard for at least 135 years- surviving the 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic and two World Wars. 

According to a listing on Xome, the home was built in 1875.

Family records indicate that Medad Spencer lived on the property until his death in 1919. He was laid to rest at Nunica Cementery. 

Erhorn purchased the home and the property it sits on in 2017 from a widow, but in a twist, the family of the widow had previously purchased the land from Erhorn’s ancestor decades earlier. 

‘They bought it from my great grandpa who bought the farm from the Spencer family in the early 1940s,’ he said. 

In addition to the letter, Erhorn also found an old leather belt hidden under some carpet and a promotional brochure for a washboard- ribbed boards that were the 19th century’s version of laundry machines. 

Erhorn’s discovery is a window into life in the West Michigan town over 100 years ago. He says he has not decided what to do with the letter just yet. 

‘It was 1886… So, I mean, that was 20 years after the end of the Civil War. It was 30 years before the outbreak of World War I,’ Erhorn said. ‘Things that we think of as being so long ago, this letter far exceeds them.’

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