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Dead Letters: Delivering Unopened Mail from a Pennsylvania Ghost Town
On assignment for a small-town newspaper in rural Pennsylvania, rookie reporter, Jessica Weible, meets Joan Swigart, a creative fireball and “pioneer in print”. As the two women forge a relationship based on their passion for storytelling, Joan reveals a mystery that she had discovered years ago, but had never solved—a pile of dead letters found in an abandoned general store, just before it was torn down. Joan gives Jessica the letters, each stamped and dated over a hundred years ago, and encourages Jessica to investigate the untold stories of the people and places contained in each one. What begins as yet another assignment for the reporter, a young millennial who relies happily on email and texting as the primary means of communication, develops into a heartfelt mission to tell the story of the people and places in the letters. The young reporter’s journey takes unexpected twists and turns through the quiet lumber towns of Pennsylvania, the early American settlements in Massachusetts, the bustling crowds at Ellis Island, the violent strikes at the Passaic textile mills, and beyond. Dead Letters is an intimate portrait of small town America and the people who, at times, risked everything in pursuit of economic prosperity, religious freedom, and social equity.
196 pages, Paperback
Published May 3, 2020
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34 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
June 14, 2020
The premise of the book, Dead Letters, is intriguing – letters written over 110 years ago by ordinary people in several different countries became lost and forgotten at a post office in a small town in Pennsylvania, which itself ultimately was practically abandoned and nearly forgotten. The letters end up in the hands of the author – a young writer and local news reporter – by way of a senior writer/reporter, who rescued the letters, and becomes mentor and inspiration to the younger reporter.
The story of how the author translated, transcribed, and researched the letters, and then tracked down descendants of the intended recipients is the main thread. But the author takes us much deeper into the broad historical context of each letter, making the whole story much richer. The letters take on more meaning. We see the letter-writers and others who populate the story as real people, living the early 20th century history of the great immigration, the labor reform movement, the rise and fall of resource industries in northwestern Pennsylvania, and the westward migration. Along the way, we are led to glimpse the lives of a few ordinary people of that period, and witness struggles, humor, love, and tragedy.
Each part of story is well told in an easy narrative. The historical information is relevant and presented in the same easy style, but with keen insight and sensitivity.
The story of how the author translated, transcribed, and researched the letters, and then tracked down descendants of the intended recipients is the main thread. But the author takes us much deeper into the broad historical context of each letter, making the whole story much richer. The letters take on more meaning. We see the letter-writers and others who populate the story as real people, living the early 20th century history of the great immigration, the labor reform movement, the rise and fall of resource industries in northwestern Pennsylvania, and the westward migration. Along the way, we are led to glimpse the lives of a few ordinary people of that period, and witness struggles, humor, love, and tragedy.
Each part of story is well told in an easy narrative. The historical information is relevant and presented in the same easy style, but with keen insight and sensitivity.
January 20, 2022
This is a beautiful book. That is not to say it is amazing literature. Instead, it is an intriguing story of a former rural post office long closed, abandoned letters found in the ruins of the former general store that housed it, and the efforts of a part time writer trying to discern the stories of the families intwined with those letters. Through the letters and research, immigration, cultural challenges, bloody Kansas, labor unrest, the waning of the Pennsylvania lumber boom, and the growth and loss of towns and industries are all glimpsed. For those stories, some tied up nicely and others only partially exhumed, we owe a debt of thanks to the author, who seems driven by both the stories and a debt to her mentor, the person who had the vision to hold onto these yellowed pages. I am glad serendipity and Jessica Weible’s drive gave us this book.
March 1, 2024
Well researched, remarkable insight into lives during early twentieth century!
I enjoyed the stories of the rugged individuals who lived during the time period. Also, greatly enjoyed the “story within the story,” detailing Jessica’s work to find the people who would be most interested in having the letters.
I enjoyed the stories of the rugged individuals who lived during the time period. Also, greatly enjoyed the “story within the story,” detailing Jessica’s work to find the people who would be most interested in having the letters.
January 11, 2021
Going to college in western PA, I can imagine where this village was and the heartache that went into these letters of a bygone era. The author did an outstanding job at referencing each letter, identifying family members, and chronicling the journey of its author.
May 27, 2020
Part history, part autobiography, a good read
June 28, 2020
New author, first book.
August 22, 2020
Buying a hard copy too!
My dad and his family is from this area. Sligo mainly. I will give him the book to read to see if he recollects any of the names.
My dad and his family is from this area. Sligo mainly. I will give him the book to read to see if he recollects any of the names.
February 23, 2021
Enjoyable book with a very poignant ending.
December 4, 2025
This is a book you’ll fall in love with right from the start. The overarching story is a classic tale of a mentor seasoned by life, who befriends and guides someone she sees as a younger version of herself by presenting her with a task that she never got around to doing herself. The mentor in this tale is a groundbreaking career journalist living in rural Pennsylvania who had a nose for great stories, and like many people who write, she always had more story ideas than time to work on them.
The story begins in the 1990s with the journalist coming across an old post office and general store being torn down in a rural area that was once a bustling lumber mill village called Howe. While poking around the remains of the old post office, she finds a hundred year old packet of “dead letters,” or letters that had never found their way to the addressees. She instantly see the potential for a story of some sort, and keeps the packet of letters.
Fast forward twenty some years. The packet of letters has been stored away all this time. The seasoned journalist makes friends with a younger newspaper reporter who’s recently moved to the area, and decides that she’s the person to take on the ‘dead letter’ project. The young reporter, Jess Weible, accepts the task, and while not having a clear picture yet of where she’s going with it, she senses the tremendous potential of the project.
What unfolds from that point forward is a lovingly told story of a writer becoming one with her subjects, and telling stories that are at times uplifting, and other times heartbreaking. The writers and recipients of the letters were not all local to the area, and their stories lead Jess across the United States, and to Europe, many making their way to descendants of the original addressees. The letters, buried away for over one hundred years, each come to life and blossom, revealing lives long passed, but now suddenly alive again and sharing their secrets.
The one thing that really stands out about this book, and infuses every page, is the passion, enthusiasm, and commitment of the author. Jess begins the project with a clinical eye for detail, but as the stories unfold, they become personal to her, and each letter carries a responsibility that she accepts. I won’t tell you much more other than to read the book as soon as possible. The ending alone makes the book worthwhile. This book tells many tales, and they all come full circle and join perfectly, like dovetailed corners, as the project—now highly personal—comes to its proper and only conclusion.
The story begins in the 1990s with the journalist coming across an old post office and general store being torn down in a rural area that was once a bustling lumber mill village called Howe. While poking around the remains of the old post office, she finds a hundred year old packet of “dead letters,” or letters that had never found their way to the addressees. She instantly see the potential for a story of some sort, and keeps the packet of letters.
Fast forward twenty some years. The packet of letters has been stored away all this time. The seasoned journalist makes friends with a younger newspaper reporter who’s recently moved to the area, and decides that she’s the person to take on the ‘dead letter’ project. The young reporter, Jess Weible, accepts the task, and while not having a clear picture yet of where she’s going with it, she senses the tremendous potential of the project.
What unfolds from that point forward is a lovingly told story of a writer becoming one with her subjects, and telling stories that are at times uplifting, and other times heartbreaking. The writers and recipients of the letters were not all local to the area, and their stories lead Jess across the United States, and to Europe, many making their way to descendants of the original addressees. The letters, buried away for over one hundred years, each come to life and blossom, revealing lives long passed, but now suddenly alive again and sharing their secrets.
The one thing that really stands out about this book, and infuses every page, is the passion, enthusiasm, and commitment of the author. Jess begins the project with a clinical eye for detail, but as the stories unfold, they become personal to her, and each letter carries a responsibility that she accepts. I won’t tell you much more other than to read the book as soon as possible. The ending alone makes the book worthwhile. This book tells many tales, and they all come full circle and join perfectly, like dovetailed corners, as the project—now highly personal—comes to its proper and only conclusion.
May 13, 2022
DEAD LETTERS follows freelance journalist Jessica Weible's journey in receiving "dead letters" from Joan: a local, retired journalist; researching the people and their stories related to each letter; and writing about those people within the context of the small, no-longer-existent town in which they were found combined with a bit of her own life's circumstances.
I'll admit that DEAD LETTERS doesn't fall into my typical genres of choice, so I appreciated the author's candor about the letters when she first received them: "I'm not sure I would have the curiosity and see the potential in a bunch of papers that were going to be burned" (p. 24). She even goes as far as to say that relics of the past bored her. But as she sought to keep a promise to Joan and researched the stories behind the letters, the letter writers, and their recipients, her curiosity -- and integrity as a journalist -- came alive.
Her excitement and they way she narrates her process of uncovering the mysteries of the letters, captured my interest and curiosity, too, and are easily my favorite parts of the book. On the surface, the letters seemed to have little in common other than where the were found, but Weible does an excellent job of tying together the themes of the letters and her personal experiences researching and writing about them. Weible, still engrained in a digital world, questions what, if any, relics she's leaving behind for future generations. I enjoyed how her personal reflections allowed me to also question and better understand different perspectives on communication and the time it takes to communicate. For example, I get annoyed when I lose emails to my SPAM filter for a few days. Just imagine what it would be like to wait for weeks for letters from other states and countries and possible never receive them.
I recommend this book, especially to readers interested in genealogy, PA history, history of communication systems, mystery lovers, or anyone who enjoys learning about the story-behind-the-story.
I'll admit that DEAD LETTERS doesn't fall into my typical genres of choice, so I appreciated the author's candor about the letters when she first received them: "I'm not sure I would have the curiosity and see the potential in a bunch of papers that were going to be burned" (p. 24). She even goes as far as to say that relics of the past bored her. But as she sought to keep a promise to Joan and researched the stories behind the letters, the letter writers, and their recipients, her curiosity -- and integrity as a journalist -- came alive.
Her excitement and they way she narrates her process of uncovering the mysteries of the letters, captured my interest and curiosity, too, and are easily my favorite parts of the book. On the surface, the letters seemed to have little in common other than where the were found, but Weible does an excellent job of tying together the themes of the letters and her personal experiences researching and writing about them. Weible, still engrained in a digital world, questions what, if any, relics she's leaving behind for future generations. I enjoyed how her personal reflections allowed me to also question and better understand different perspectives on communication and the time it takes to communicate. For example, I get annoyed when I lose emails to my SPAM filter for a few days. Just imagine what it would be like to wait for weeks for letters from other states and countries and possible never receive them.
I recommend this book, especially to readers interested in genealogy, PA history, history of communication systems, mystery lovers, or anyone who enjoys learning about the story-behind-the-story.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews