They had close relatives in Kansas regiments and others in Tennessee on both sides. Were early families in East Tenn. Meigs Co, Rhea Co, etc
1SG Coke was the most prolific writer, perhaps because he was the oldest and survived the longest (Dug Gap 5-8-64)
William wrote letters but mostly to his relatives in Kansas and he is the one that kept them all together in the end. He was part of the occupation forces of Little Rock and gave all his to his sister to keep. Plus she had all the others. There has to be over 200 letters from early in 1850's through the end of the war. Some are from relatives in Tenn, Mo, Kansas and Oregon as well as between family and friends in Ark. The one thing that is interesting, the southern branch never mention slavery, did not own slaves etc. but the Union relatives talked about the evil of slavery. Then when the Emancipation Proc. came out, boy were they vocal about their disapproval and dislike for the document. They stated they were fighting for the Union and not the slaves. This family is a very great look into the intricacies of why these men were fighting.