Raymond Rockhill Nicholson was born in Jackson County in 1898. He studied at what is today known as Western Carolina University. From 1917 to 1921, he served as principle of three different public schools. Between the years 1920 and 1926, he served as registrar of deeds of Jackson County. He was a member of the County Board of Elections and actively served the Democratic Party. When Nicholson wrote this letter, he was probably working with Mead Corporation or the C.J. Harris Community Hospital as an accountant. Fourteen years after he wrote this letter, he was appointed to state senate where he served in 1955 and 1956 (Jackson County Genealogical Society).Dan Tompkins was born in Webster, NC in 1890. He graduated from high school in Waynesville and studied law at Wake Forest College. The Jackson County Journal started in 1906, and Tompkins became the editor in chief in 1912. He served in the military in 1917 and 1918 during World War I, during which time he was part of the offensive that broke the Hindenburg line at Ballicourt, France (Jackson County Genealogical Society). After his honorable discharge, Tompkins returned to his job at the Journal and was elected Mayor of Sylva as a Democrat. He was Jackson County’s representative to the General Assembly in 1933, 1939, and 1943