In the days before Facebook, kids, we had to rely on old-fashioned technologies like letter writing. The Skidmore newspapers often highlighted news from friends and family far away, as the New Era did in its September 19, 1912 edition.
Heard from Comrade
Uncle Joe Parrish of Skidmore was agreeably surprised a few days ago by getting a nice letter from one of his old army comrades, John S. Hufman, of Redding, Iowa.
Mr. Hufman saw an article in the St. Joseph Gazette telling about Uncle Joe catching so many flies, and at once wrote him a letter, asking him if he was not the Joe Parrish who enlisted in Co. G, 26th Indiana Vol. Infantry, and Uncle Joe wrote right back and told him yes, and that he was mighty glad to have heard from him.
These two men enlisted at the beginning of the Civil War in this same company and were comrades in many a battle. The last time they saw each other was in ’63 at New Orleans. It was at this place Uncle Joe took sick and was confined in a hospital for nine months, after which he received an honorable discharge and returned home. When Mr. Parrish took sick he weighed 183 pounds and on the day of his discharge he tipped the scales lightly at sixty-five pounds, so you can see he went through quite a spell of sickness.
Uncle Joe has been somewhat poorly this summer but he is quite smart on his feet now and enjoyed the Punkin Show as well as anybody.