Laura Tonkin was renovating her North Carolina home when she came across something she could hardly believe herself. Earlier this year, while fixing her attic, one of the workers discovered something most would consider a priceless piece of history.
According to local media outlet WRAL News, the worker found an old letter just beneath the insulation in Laura’s attic.
The letter was written by a man named John B. Woosley—at least that’s what the signature suggested. Although it had a date printed on it, there was unfortunately no mention of the year. It was written on parchment paper and looked quite ancient, as the pages had begun deteriorating into strips.
According to Tonkin, who was among the first to read it, it was a love letter. “I don’t know what this is, but it’s very cool,” she said. She added, “He was writing to his girlfriend, Oma. It’s a sweet letter.”
Tonkin later discovered that John B. Woosley was a soldier during World War I. His signature and stationery confirmed that he served as a first lieutenant in the infantry and was stationed on the front lines in France. The local outlet added that the war lasted from July 1914 to November 1918.
N.C. Woman Finds WWI Soldier’s ‘Sweet’ Love Letter Hidden in Her Attic During Home Renovation https://t.co/ac7mmHWhuR
— People (@people) November 12, 2025
Tonkin told the outlet that at the time of writing the letter, “He probably wasn’t very old — 20s, I imagine.” She also shared details about what Woosley wrote in the letter: “You had asked about the French girls. I haven’t met too many, but from what I can tell, they don’t compare to Southern girls,” he wrote.
The World War I soldier also described what life was like during that period. “We have seen quite a bit of shell life. Artillery put eight shells right near my kitchen, within 100 to 150 yards. To think about being on the front and writing a letter at this time in history, and having to be so careful about what you say,” he wrote, according to Tonkin.
However, Tonkin said she didn’t fully grasp the historical significance of her discovery until she found where the former soldier had been buried. “When we looked him up and found where his grave is, we were like, wow — he’s real, and he’s right over there.”
Woosley died in 1956, according to WRAL, and was buried in the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery near the UNC-Chapel Hill campus. His love story with Oma had a heartfelt ending, as she went on to become his wife. Oma died five years before Woosley, and the two were buried side by side.
According to UNC-Chapel Hill, Woosley worked as a finance professor at the university’s School of Commerce after the war, from 1947 until August 1953. Tonkin plans to keep the letter until a possible family member reaches out — or until a historical organization comes knocking at her door.
