One of the most fragile and tattered letters in this collection is one from James Sterret to his brothers, Robert and William, on September 24, 1856. (Note: In this letter, he spells his last name as “Sterret,” while other sources say “Sterrett,” so I will use his spelling in this post.) James was brother to Mary Sterret, who married Alexander Patterson, my five-greats grandfather whose past is well documented in this collection. James lived in Harrisonburg, Virginia, and was writing to his brothers and his friends back in Mifflintown, Pennsylvania, in the final year of his life. In his letter, James was looking forward to the election of 1856, which was…