At the time of the 1860 Census, Daniel Washington Murph (the name is spelled Murphy in the Census) and his family were living in the Sherrill’s Ford section of Catawba County, North Carolina where Murph (age listed as 31) was employed as a day laborer. The family also had connections in neighboring Lincoln County, where Murph’s wife Amanda and their five children lived during the war. Daniel Murph served in the 1st North Carolina Artillery (10th Regiment State Troops). Most of the letters in the collection were written by Daniel Murph and by (or for) Amanda Murph. There is also a letter written by Amanda’s brother, Joshua C. Carter (b. ca. 1837) while he was serving in Co. C, 28th North Carolina Infantry. Amanda Murph had others write most, if not all, of her letters for her.