George W. Ringlar Letter

This collection consists of a letter from George W. Ringlar, a Vermont resident, writing from Yorktown, Virginia, probably in 1862. Writing to his father, Ringlar states that he has recently been ill and that he had tried to join the army but was rejected by a colonel who said that "he had sick men enough already and did not see eny use in taking a sick man for a soldier." Ringlar refers to himself as a "stranger in a strange land" but is content in living with a family of Virginia farmers. He contrasts the farms of Virginia with those of Vermont. "I'll tell you what they do raise here," he writes, "and raise to perfection that is vare ripe Peaches and pretty girls." Ringlar continues by providing his father instructions for the care of his horse, wagon, harness and some financial matters. As a non-participant in the war, he writes, he has no news and will not relay anything from the newspapers, "for they are liars by liars every one of them." He closes with personal messages to other relatives.