MOREHEAD, Ky. — A piece of Morehead history dating back nearly 145 years is coming home.
The publisher of The Morehead Minute has purchased an original May 1, 1882 business letter written by H. G. Price, a Morehead timber businessman who would later become directly involved in the altercation widely associated with the beginning of the Martin-Tolliver Feud, also known as the Rowan County War.
The letter, along with its original envelope, was recently offered for sale online and was purchased for $104.83, including shipping and tax.
Its historical significance, however, extends far beyond its purchase price.
A Glimpse Into Morehead’s Early Economy
The letter is written on elaborate business stationery bearing the heading:
“H. G. Price — Dealer in and Shipper of Coopers’ Stuff — Morehead, Rowan Co., Ky.”
“Coopers’ stuff” referred to timber products used in the manufacture of barrels, including staves and heading.
In the letter, Price writes to William K. Hamilton of Poplar Flat, Lewis County, Kentucky, regarding the possible purchase of an engine.
Price indicates that he had already purchased one or two engines but expected to need another. He objected to the price Hamilton had quoted and asked whether a better price could be offered.
Though brief, the correspondence provides a rare firsthand glimpse into Morehead’s developing timber and industrial economy during the early 1880s.
The timing is especially significant. The railroad had only recently reached Morehead, opening new opportunities for the movement of timber and other goods from eastern Kentucky to larger markets.
The letter shows that Price was not simply dealing in timber locally. His own stationery described him as a “dealer in and shipper of” cooperage material, while his discussion of multiple engines suggests a mechanized commercial operation.
The Man Behind the Letter
H. G. Price would become connected to one of the most infamous chapters in Rowan County history just two years after writing the letter.
A contemporary newspaper report from August 4, 1884, published under the headline “A Fatal Fracas,” reported that an altercation between William Trumbo and H. G. Price in Morehead escalated into violence.
The confrontation resulted in the death of Solomon Bradley, the fatal wounding of Ad Sizemore, and injuries to John Martin and Allen Sutton.
The newspaper reported that Bradley had been attempting to quiet the disturbance when he was shot and killed.
Floyd Tolliver and John Martin — names that would soon become closely associated with opposing factions in the Rowan County conflict — were among those involved in the violence.
The incident is remembered as one of the early confrontations associated with the escalation of the Martin-Tolliver Feud, a period of violence that plagued Rowan County during the 1880s and became nationally known as the Rowan County War.
That contemporary newspaper report specifically naming H. G. Price helps establish that the man who wrote the 1882 business letter was the same Morehead businessman involved in the later confrontation.
More Than an Old Piece of Paper
What makes the artifact especially valuable from a historical standpoint is that it documents Price before the violence for which his name would later become associated.
Rather than discussing a feud, gunfight or court case, the letter captures something far more ordinary: a Morehead businessman negotiating the purchase of machinery.
And that is precisely what makes documents like this useful to historians.
Government records can tell us who owned land, paid taxes or appeared in court. Newspapers often preserve major events.
Personal and business correspondence, however, can reveal what people were actually doing in their everyday lives.
The surviving envelope adds another layer of historical value. It bears Price’s printed Morehead return address, identifies Hamilton in Poplar Flat, and remains paired with the original correspondence more than a century later.
Returning a Piece of Morehead History
“When I first saw the letter, I knew it was interesting simply because it was an original Morehead business document from 1882,” said Morehead Minute publisher Joe Clark. “But once I was able to confirm that H. G. Price was the same man involved in the altercation connected to the beginning of the Martin-Tolliver Feud, it became much more significant. At that point, I felt like this was a piece of Morehead history that really belonged back in Morehead.”
Clark said the document is especially interesting because it shows Price in an entirely different setting than the one for which history remembers him.
“What I like most about it is that the letter shows Price before all of that happened,” Clark added. “He wasn’t writing about violence or politics. He was conducting business, buying machinery and taking part in Morehead’s growing timber economy. It gives us a glimpse of the man and the town before the Rowan County War became part of their story.”
The letter was discovered while researching local historical material and immediately caught the attention of The Morehead Minute because of the Morehead business heading.
Further research into H. G. Price uncovered his connection to the events surrounding the Rowan County War.
Once that connection was confirmed through contemporary newspaper reporting, the document became considerably more than an attractive piece of 19th-century stationery.
It became a tangible link between two sides of Morehead’s history: the economic growth of the early 1880s and the violent period that would soon make Rowan County notorious across Kentucky.
The letter and envelope will be preserved together along with copies of the historical newspaper documentation establishing Price’s identity and connection to the 1884 incident.
For The Morehead Minute, the purchase represents an opportunity to preserve a small but meaningful piece of the community’s history.
After spending 144 years traveling through time — and eventually finding its way onto eBay — H. G. Price’s 1882 letter is headed back to Morehead.
And this time, it is coming home to stay.
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