Ravenswood WVa
August 12th /,65
His Excellency
A I Boreman
Dear Sir
William
Ellison Esq. of Calhoun County desired a written permission from you for raising a company of Scouts for the County of Calhoun he has been forced to leave that Co, & is now living near this place. He ovily asks to be permitted to raise the company, and after it is raised the company to choose its leader whom you will coin mission If permission is given mail it to Ravenswood.
Yours Obediently
JM McWhorter
Transcription by Jeffrie Carroll, undergraduate student enrolled in Dr. Billy Joe Peyton's Fall 2010 "Introduction to Public History" at West Virginia State University