“In 1886, four letters reached Colchester which had been at the bottom of the ocean for a period of 3months and 17 days. The mail steamer Oregon had gone down, and it was carrying these letters from England to Moses King, George Penman, O. Baird, and Mrs. Ellen Napier.
They have just been recovered and sent here. It was surprising the good condition they were in being in the water all the time.”
June Moon, Multum in Parvo: A History of Colchester, Illinois, 1956
