The first three of these letters were sent by Patrick Mines, a traveling trader and peddler to Miss Nancy B. Doud (misspelled Dowd by Patrick). Miss Nancy was born 10 Jul 1833 so that would make her almost seventeen years of age when Patrick Mines wrote his 4 Jun 1850 letter to her. The fourth letter was sent to Nancy B. Mines on 12 Nov 1851. Patrick and Nancy were married 1 May 1851. The last letter, from John Mines to Nancy Mines, indicates a Mines family connection in Waugegan, Illinois.
    It appears that Patrick and Nancy had two daughters, Josephine, born 1853, and Nancy p., born Jun 1854, died 31 Aug 1855. (Source, familysearch.org)
    There have been reports that Patrick Mines died in the 1850s and that Nancy B. Mines later married one M. B. McIntosh about 1858, however the online Early Van Buren Co IA Marriages shows the marriage of a Daniel F. McIntosh to a Nancy B. Minis, 11 Jun 1861.