> ******************************** > Washington Post 7/12/01 > Court papers, lost during Civil War, show up on eBay > http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A49406-2001Jul11.html > > by Josh White and Lisa Rein > When Union troops raided the Brentsville Courthouse during their occupation > of Prince William County in 1863, they made off with batches of court papers > from the Revolutionary War era as part of their spoils. > The vital records -- including oaths of soldiers, certificates of birth and > death and deeds of property and business ownership -- tore a hole in the > county's history and were considered lost forever. > But in a fortunate juxtaposition of the past and the future, many of the > papers -- written in ornate calligraphy and dated to May 1779 -- recently > began to appear on the eBay Web site nearly 150 years after they were lost. > > Virginia historians and Prince William officials have recovered some of the > documents because a researcher noticed just a few of the pages for sale on > the Internet auction house. > The Library of Virginia in Richmond contacted the dealer, Charles Barger, of > Mansfield, Ohio, to see if he had more. The state then bought a 200-page > record book for $8,000 from Barger, who had extolled the "beautiful > handwriting" and "excellent condition" of the documents, according to the > official auction listing. > When researchers received the book late last year, however, they discovered > that 46 pages were missing. > Over the past few weeks, Prince William County police tracked down one more > page, which they bought from the same dealer, who was selling it for about > $300. > Police Chief Charlie T. Deane said Barger won't be charged with a crime. > Police said they suspected that Barger had the additional missing pages, but > Barger told them he just had the one. Barger told police he bought the book > at a local antique show. Barger did not return phone calls or respond to an > e-mail query. > Police have since been poring through the black market in search of the > remaining 45 pages. > "These are records that talk about people in Prince William County; they're > important because they talk about our ancestors," said David Mabie, clerk of > the courts. "It's particularly significant that for more than a century, > everyone believed the records were lost." > The book is a 200-plus page record of court minutes kept in Brentsville, the > county seat from 1822 to 1890. Listing lawsuits, land transactions, business > licenses and militia oaths from 1778 to 1784, it is among at least dozens of > deed books, surveyors plat books and marriage documents stolen by Union > soldiers as they raided, pillaged and dismantled the courthouse in 1863, > loading up the bricks to set up camp nearby. -- Marta S. Hardy - wandering in the wildwood of west KY & TN