Curtis Smith was working on his 1917 home in Casper, Wyoming, when he found something amazing. He discovered an old letter hidden in the walls, and it led to a family reunion almost 100 years later.Smith was fixing up his old house, dealing with a common problem in older homes. He wanted to change the Jack and Jill bathroom that connected two bedrooms. To do this, he removed his bedroom closet and turned that space into a hallway. It was a big job that required tearing down walls.
While pulling down the plaster and lathe, Smith spotted a blue envelope buried inside the wall. According to Newsweek, he had actually told his family just days before that he hoped to find an old letter someday. When he saw it, he felt excited and surprised. He said finding the letter was literally a dream come true. “Somehow I just knew when we moved in I would find something like that, and there it was,” he said. “It was literally a dream of mine come true.”
Smith stopped working right away to read the letter. It was dated September 1917 and was written to Cornelis Patrick Shea, called “Con Shea” in the note. Shea had moved to Wyoming from Bantry, Ireland, and worked as a sheep herder. He later became a successful and respected member of the Casper community.
This century-old letter connected two families across time
The letter was from Shea’s sister back in Ireland. She thanked him for a gift he had sent home and shared news from Bantry. She also mentioned his baby with Mary, who Smith figured out was their son John, born in 1914. Smith found the letter very touching and emotional. Like many moments when dreams unexpectedly come true, this discovery brought genuine joy.
Smith went online to learn more about Con Shea and his life in America. He posted photos of the letter on Flickr, and that’s when something special happened. A distant relative of Shea saw the post and contacted Smith. They talked on the phone and shared information and photos about the family.
By December, Smith knew what to do with the letter. He found the address of one of Shea’s living relatives in Boston and mailed them the original 1917 letter. He wanted to make sure the family got their piece of history back since they were the rightful owners. For Smith, making this dream become a reality meant reconnecting a family with their past.
Smith isn’t sure how the letter ended up in the wall.“It’s also possible that it had just mistakenly found its way into the wall, as there was also some construction trash left in there as well,” he said. But he likes to think it was left there on purpose, like a time capsule for someone to find in the future. Either way, Smith is happy he helped preserve a touching piece of family history.
