Letter, 1 December 1839, added to the Dickson family papers previously acquired by the South Caroliniana Library was sent by J.S. Martin from New Albany, Indiana, to William P. Dickson at New Prospect in Spartanburg District, S.C., and speaks pointedly to the difficulty in maintaining communication that often plagued nineteenth-century families relocating from one area to another.

Addressing his message to "Dear Brother & Sister," Martin writes, "Three hundred sixty and four days have rolled by since we have received a letter wrote by either of you" and then goes on to state that he had mailed two letters to the Dicksons from the New Albany post office and another from Martinsburg - "whether you got them or no is more than I am able to say but I can say we never got an answer to either of them."

The letter conveys little news, apart from the fact that "Mother has moved to this place," but suggests that since the last letter received from Dickson was written the previous December, "To write any particulars I do not think it necessary until we shall have heard from you."