Mysteries Solved to the Highest Bidder!

So, this isn't macabre or anything. A lot of older people die with old, valuable items in their possession that they don't know the true value of. So yes, I read obituaries because it leads to estate sales which might lead to little nuggets like this auction listing from an estate sale:

"A series of private letters sent anonymously and without return address to a Mister Richard A. Hadley in New Orleans in the autumn of 1883. With the location of Mr. Hadley yet unknown and the letters undelivered, per instructions accompanying the letters, should the letters be undelivered by 1893, they were to be opened and published in the Weekly Pelican, an African American newspaper which ran from 1886 to 1889. With the indicated publication defunct, ownership of the letters passed to the then current owner of 1215 Royal Street, Ms. Henrietta James. The letters were presumed lost, not found again until 2015, with the passing of Ms. James’s great grandniece, Justine Lareaux. As items from her estate were sorted and cataloged for an estate auction, the letters were discovered behind a dresser in the attic, still sealed.

Of Mr. Hadley, little is known. City records indicate no one of that name ever owning that home, though journals belonging to the Saunders family, who lived in the home through June 1887, reference a visiting friend named R. Alfred, presumably Richard A. Hadley. Journals indicate he left New Orleans to visit Europe in the summer of 1887, though no ships’ manifests indicate any passenger named Hadley. The identity of Mr. Hadley, nor even his existence, has ever been confirmed, the letter serving as the sole known evidence of his presence in New Orleans.
Bidding starts at $100."

Sure, to most people, it's just a bunch of letters. To local historians, possibly the answer to a trivial sort of mystery. I confess, I hadn't really heard anything about Mister Hadley as a local urban legend. This stranger with no connection to anything receives letters that are to be published if he can't be found. Why wouldn't they be able to find him, and why would the sender 1) expect he wouldn't be found, 2) feel that the contents of the letters were so important that they should be published, and 3) request said letters be published in a paper that wasn't even founded at the time the letters were sent? Was the letter writer part of the group that put the paper together, expecting the paper to start its run sooner and run longer?

And why the Weekly Pelican? Was it that influential? And such a limited run to a small audience. Those African Americans lucky enough to be living in the South in the 1880s with access to education and money enough to purchase newspapers? Clearly not a large enough audience to be profitable, as the paper only ran for four years. What secrets did these contain that needed to be shared publicly with only a few people? Why not the Times-Picayune, or as it was known then, the Daily Picayune?

And who sent them? 

Letters from an unknown sender to a non-existent recipient with instructions to be printed a decade later in an obscure paper if the recipient is missing? Crazy. Could it be a list of all the monsters in the city? Or perhaps the true history of New Orleans, to be published only after the anonymous sender has a chance to get out of town before all the ghouls, bloodsuckers, and voodoo queens can punish him for releasing their secrets into the light of day? Arcane secrets? Prophecy? A warning too late for Mr. Hadley, but one that was meant to reach the public if he couldn't be reached to save the day? OR maybe blackmail that chased Mr. Hadley out of town? What if Mr. Hadley isn't an individual, but a code word for a group of individuals working together under a shroud of secrecy, hence why he wasn't able to be located. It could be anything. And the only way to ensure I find the answers is to get my hands on those letters.

So... anybody got a couple hundred bucks they can lend me?

Share your theories (and money) in the comments, and as always...

Stay Strange!

- Steve


UPDATE (October 4):

Last night, I was able to pull together a few hundred bucks (Thanks, DeadNotSleeping), but alas. I was outbid. I didn't stand a chance, really. I thought I would be able to come in and snap them up from any local historians with a passing interest, but apparently the interest was a lot bigger than I would have guessed. It came down to three people by the time I realized it was well out of my reach and left. I kinda wish I had stuck around. If these papers were that interesting and valuable, it would have been good to know who they were and why they wanted it.

There were three people. A dark skinned woman with braids, a pale dude with red hair, and a middle eastern dude with medium length hair and a really nice suit. I tried speaking with the auction house to get details, but they weren't having any of it. Apparently after a soul jar they auctioned off last month got stolen from the buyer, they are extra tight lipped about that sort of thing. I still don't have any leads on who those people were or what the letters contained, but I'm definitely certain it's something rare and powerful. Man, I wish I could have been in the room when the wax seals were broken and those letters were read for the first time.

If I hear anything else, I'll let you guys know.

Stay strange!
-Steve