In a March 5, 1856 letter, G. W. Young of Clarksville, Tenn. writes to his father William in Chaplin, Conn. about farming and coal mining. Young describes an agricultural practice known by the locals as "Plant Beds & Burning" in which they "[burn] Brush heaps on Tobacco beds & [save] the seed for plants."

After a discussion of people from home, Young also talks about coal prices in Tennessee versus those in Connecticut. He also speaks of "a Rail Road in construction from Henderson to Hopkinsville thence via Springfield to Nashville that passes through our extensive coal mine just above Hopkinsville Ky." He says that "the State Geologist has declared this coal to be of superior quality and unable to be exhausted in a million of years."