Bradford Era – by Mandy Colosimo

A collection of handwritten letters and other documents, dating back to 1856, were discovered in an attic of a home in Washington state have made their way to McKean County.

The correspondence consisted of family exchanges between Phillip Griggs Ellithorpe, Philander Doty Ellithorpe and Asa R. Burleson and Oliver Moore during the Civil War. It had been kept at the Cowlitz County Historical Museum in Kelso, Wash., until the summer of 2021.

Ruth Covert of the McKean County Historical Society said the historical society in New York wanted the cache of letters because the family was originally from Rushford, N.Y. However, the content of the documents related to the history of the Bucktails, and so, the letters are now housed at the McKean County Historical Society. Read More