This article is from the January- March 2010 issue of the Confederate Philatelist. Posted under a prior agreement with the then journal editors in effect since the early days of this website.

Handstamp PAID 5 Cover from Sandersville, Ga dated 14 FEB (1862) which contained the valentine. If you are a romantic, you will love this blue handstamped PAID 5 valentine cover with the original embossed valentine enclosure. I was fortunate to have obtained it from the General McCary Ballard Collection when it was featured as lot #2602 in the Schuyler Rumsey Auction in April 2009. As soon as the cover and valentine were delivered to me, I had the challenge of  finding out everything I could about this remarkable combination of Confederate postal history. For  example, who was the charming sender? Who was the lucky recipient? It was truly exciting doing the research, and the results were more than I had hoped for. The valentine was mailed at Sandersville, Georgia, on Valentine's Day in 1862 to Mr. Charlie Conn of Milledgeville, Georgia. It was written at "Brookwood" which I had guessed to be the name of a plantation and which turned out to be correct. The plantation was near Dublin, Georgia, but no longer exists. There is now a housing development on the site appropriately named "Brookwood". The plantation was owned by the Jeremiah Yopp family. Mr. Yopp had two daughters, Priss and Abigail. They were the only unmarried young ladies in the family living at home in 1862. Unfortunately, I have not been able to determine which girl used the pet name "Heliotrope" to sign the valentine, thus the captivating sender is still unknown. The handwritten valentine verse is as sweet as one could ever hope for. What a lucky man to have an admirer that was this romantic! It reads: I dream of thee at midnight When darkness veils the earth I dream of thee at twilight When day to night gives birth When my heart is glad and free in joyous hours: "I dream of thee"   The question naturally arises whether or not the valentine verse was the original work of the girl. There were small books of valentine verses sold to the public in the nineteenth century which were used by amorous folks to select a pleasing  message to write in a valentine. Accordingly, it is impossible to know if the sender actually authored the verse or used such a book to pen the verse. Charlie Conn is Charles Augustus Conn from Milledgeville, Georgia, who, in March 1862, joined the 45th Georgia Infantry Regiment as Captain of Company G (Myrick Volunteers). In December 1864, he was promoted regimental commander with the rank of Lt. Colonel. His regiment fought in nineteen major battles over a three year period before surrendering at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, on April 9, 1865. While at home recovering from a wound in early March 1865, he married Lucia Griswold of  Jones County, Georgia. Shortly thereafter he returned to the battlefields of Petersburg, Virginia, where sadly, Lt. Colonel Conn was mortally wounded on March 25, 1865. It appears highly unlikely that he ever married a Yopp girl in the preceding years before his marriage to Lucia Griswold. However, the remote possibility of his marrying a Yopp girl still exists as women often died at childbirth. As yet, though, I have been unable to find any evidence of such a marital union. The more I learned of Lt. Colonel Conn, the more I felt he represented the epitome of an uncommonly brave Southern officer who lead and fought gallantly for four hard years in all the great battles only to be killed at the very end. When he fell mortally wounded leading his troops, his last words as documented by his men were, "Forward Boys, Forward!" I am fortunate to have "found" Conn as a result of this wonderful Confederate Valentine. Special thanks to David H. Jones of Tarzana, Calif., Colonel Thomas M. Lera of Falls Church, Va., and James E. Morton III of Decatur, Ga., who were very helpful in my research. Very rare is the Confederate cover that was mailed on one of the four Valentine's Days during the War Between the States that has such a lovely enclosure. The author believes that young Lt Col Conn who received this poetic missive was one lucky man when it arrived.

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