CSA 7-R, 5¢ blue pair used with manuscript postmark of Shufordsville NC Dec 28 on narrow-bordered mourning cover to Miss Cora Jordan St. Mary’s Institute Raleigh NC with embossed initials “AW” on top back flap. A total charmer and a SCARCE small town in the mountains of western North Carolina near Asheville. St. Mary’s School was founded in 1842, operational even during the Civil War, and is Raleigh’s old private educational institution for girls. $550.

Cora Rebecca Jordan (1845-1919) was a daughter of “Colonel” Daniel William Jordan (1810-1883). He was a successful planter and entrepreneur who dealt in Turpentine and cotton. In 1860 he bought Laurel Hill (Lorrill Hill?) plantation for $85,000 from the estate of Plowden Weston. This was a 10,000 acre, 250 slave “Low Country” plantation. During the war he sold Turpentine, rice and salt to the CSA government. His saltworks were capable of producing 50 bushels of salt per day. When Federal incursions started in 1864 Jordan and his family moved inland to Camden. He never tried to reclaim his coastal plantation after the war. This plantation was located on the east side of the Waccamaw river, just south of Murrells Inlet. It is now called Brookgreen Gardens. Source-with thanks: Ken Miller.

Shufordsville, N.C.: Now known as Fletcher, this community was first settled in 1795 by Samuel Murray. In 1827, Samuel’s son opened the first post office in the Limestone District, and the area became known as Murrayville. Murrayville became a strategic location because it was one of the main way-stations on the Buncombe Turnpike which was built in the early 1800s. This road quickly became the main passageway for families, farmers, and traders traveling from South Carolina up into Asheville and points north.  In 1837, Murrayville was renamed Shufordsville after the newly appointed Postmaster Jacob Rhyne Shuford.  Shortly thereafter in 1838, the state of North Carolina formed the last hundred of its counties and Shufordsville was no longer part of Buncombe County but rather part of the newly created Henderson County. Shufordsville continued to slowly grow and changed its name one last time when the town’s namesake, Dr. George Fletcher, became the local postmaster in 1886. Dr. Fletcher was a local country doctor and surgeon who served during the war. Although the town of Fletcher was on the main road from Asheville to South Carolina and a railroad and station were later built here, Fletcher remained relatively small over the years, and it wasn’t until 1989 that Fletcher formally became incorporated.  Source: https://www.fletchernc.org/about-us/history-of-fletcher/