Uncle Tom's Cabin" author Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896) has links to the family in Guilford, Conn.:

• Candace, a slave owned by Ebenezer Parmelee [1690-1777; Isaac, John, John] and wife Anna, lived at the Hyland House. Later, as a free woman, it's likely she was the woman who helped young Harriet understand that Africans, too, were human.
• When the First Congregational Church bought John Parmelee Sr.'s home lot at the north end of the Village Green, the 1740 Benton-Beecher house stood there. Rossiter Parmelee [1783-1855; Nathaniel, William, Joseph, Isaac, John, John] and a team of 70 oxen moved it to a new foundation -- and turned it into a tavern.

While study of the recently recovered Confederate submarine continues, I have learned that an ancestor assisted such an attempt years ago!

Philip Elting Parmalee [1837-aft1876; Ezra Sherman, David, Noah, Noah, Stephen, John, John] worked as a bookkeeper for Prof. Benjamin Maillefert of Charleston, S.C., who salvaged many of the ships that were sunk in the harbor during the Civil War -- he even a contract to salvage the CSS Hunley. The South Carolina Historical Society in Charleston has Maillefert's business ledgers from 1874-76 which were kept by Philip!

For more on the Hunley salvage and restoration, click here.

Tucked away in attics, books and libraries, they've come to light -- letters written from and to our ancestors from more than a century ago. These are our earliest discoveries:

• 1783: Stranded in France during the Revolutionary War with others who'd been held by the British, Timothy Parmele [1764-1791; Joseph, Timothy, Joshua, John, John] seeks Ben Franklin's help in returning home.
• 1798: A letter written by Ens. Samuel Parmele [1757-1828; Oliver, Jonathan, Joshua, Joshua, John, John] to William Simmond, an accountant in the War Department in Philadelphia, the nation's capital at the time.
• 1812: A letter written by Keziah (Hudson) Parmelee, wife of Theodore [Abraham, Abraham, Isaac, John, John], in Goshen, Conn., to her brother in Hudson, Ohio.
• 1814: Letters written to Ethalinda (Parmele) Kaysor [1786- ? ; Asa, Silas, Abraham, Isaac, John, John] of Philadelphia, from her father Asa and sister Lucy.
• 1820s: A very young Francis Burdette Parmele writes his mother, Lydia (Bosworth) Parmele, wife of Henry [Joel, Nehemiah, Nathaniel, Nathaniel, John, John], back home in Albany, N.Y.
• 1823: Lydia (Bosworth) Parmele of Albany, N.Y., receives sad news from friend Tary Clark of Philadelphia.
• 1825: Eliza Ann (Pleasants) Parmly of Painesville, Ohio, informs a friend in New York City of the death of her father-in-law, Eleazer [Jehiel, Stephen, Stephen, John, John].
• 1829: A 14-year-old Francis Burdette Parmele of Albany, N.Y., writes to George B. Smith of Schenectady, N.Y., looking for work.
• 1830: Letters by Lucius Parmelee [William, Dan, Lemuel, Nathaniel, Nathaniel, John, John], his wife, Ann, and mother, Fanny (Royce) Parmelee, in Twinsburg, Ohio, to their relatives back in Waterbury, Vt.
• 1831: A three-page letter to 16-year-old Francis Burdette Parmele of Albany, N.Y., from William Brown.
• 1831: Two letters written to Lucius Parmelee of Waterbury, Vt., from his mother, father and siblings in Twinsburg, Ohio.
• 1833: Letter from Francis Burdette Parmele of Albany to George Smythe of Schenectady, N.Y.
• 1833: The first of two letters from starving artist P. Ostrander of New York to Francis Burdette Parmele of Albany.

• 1833: A second letter from P. Ostrander to Francis Burdette Parmele.
• 1835: Letter from Caroline (Parmele) Cole in Albany, N.Y., to her brother, Francis Burdette Parmele, who was attending school in Utica, Ohio.
• 1836: Letter from Philo Cole to his brother-in-law Francis Burdette Parmele.
• 1836: Second letter from Philo Cole to his brother-in-law Francis Burdette Parmele.
• 1837: Letter from Frederick Cole in Albany, N.Y., to Francis Burdette Parmele in Utica, Ohio, discussing politics -- the Loco-Focos! -- and religion.
• 1839: Letter from John Patterson in Albany, N.Y., to Francis Burdette Parmele in Utica, Ohio, and then forwarded to him in Newark, Ohio, concerning some medical books.
• 1839: Letter from Fred W. Cole in Albany, N.Y., to Francis Burdette Parmele in Utica, Ohio, about some vague business deal.
• Late 1830s: Caroline (Parmele) Cole of Albany, N.Y., writes brother Francis Burdette Parmele who is attending medical school in Utica, Ohio.
• 1840: Letter from Francis Burdette Parmele in Albany, N.Y., to brother-in-law George Bosworth Smythe in Newark, Ohio, concerning money matters.
• 1856: Letter written to Stewart Dean Palmerlee [Bryan, John, Bryan, Jonathan, Joshua, John, John] of East Hampton, Conn., informing him of the death of his brother William.
• 1862: While held in Ohio, Confederate POW William Jordan Parmelee [Joseph, Joseph?, Joseph, Joseph, Isaac, John, John] wrote a letter to his wife Lydia [Mc Ginty] that was found in a mail bag long after the war had ended.
• 1862-65: Civil War letters written by Marcus S. Parmele [Alexander H., Smith, Oliver, Ezra, Nathaniel, Nathaniel, John, John] to his family in Rockford, Ill., and penned for Gen. William Rosecrans while serving as a member of his staff.
• 1863: Civil War letter written by Col. Theodore Weld Parmele [Truman, Thomas Truman, Thomas, Thomas, Job, John, John] to George H. Kimball in New Orleans.
• 1865: Abolitionist Homer Parmelee [Howell, Amos, Amos, David, Joshua, John, John] of Philadelphia subscribes to The Liberator.