DAPHNE, Ala. — The Daphne Public Library’s Local History Forum met Tuesday at the Old Methodist Church Museum with guest speaker Melissa McNichol talking about the museum’s Harrison family letters.

McNichol — a descendant of the family — presented the letters along with information about family artifacts that can be found in the Dryer Avenue fixture. John Cox Harrison, McNichol’s great-great grandfather, wrote the letters during the Civil War.

John, along with his wife and 13 children, migrated to Alabama in the 1850s.

He served in the Confederate Army and was killed at the Battle of the Wilderness in Virginia on May 5, 1864.

McNichol read the letters to an audience, sharing a piece of her family’s history.

“Almost every letter that I read is signed ‘Yours truly, until death’,” McNichol said.

Polly Gregorious, McNichol’s aunt and John Harrison’s great-granddaughter, also was in attendance.

“It was really a lot of work to get it all together,” Gregorious said of the event.

But it was worth it, she said, because “the letters speak for themselves.”

“We’re grateful to have our family’s things in this museum,” McNichol said, adding that the small white structure is a welcome tourist attraction. “Seeing this building is enough to come.”

The museum was thankful to showcase the letters — which wasn’t always possible.

“The letters have been scanned and copied,” said Mickey Boykin, museum president. “Before, we couldn’t show them because they were the originals.”

The Daphne Local History Forum usually is held in the Daphne Public Library, but McNichol’s connection to the museum allowed for a change this month.

The forum seeks to spread the word about historical collections, sites and events of public interest.

 (Staff video by Devin R. Golden; edited by Thomas Boni)