A 220-year-old court-order book, taken by a New York captain during the Civil War, has been returned to Stafford for a brief visit. It will be preserved for posterity by the Library of Virginia.
The newly discovered pre-Revolutionary records is being displayed in Stafford County so the public, historians and local officials could glimpse this rare treasure. The court ledger book was among the items that vanished from the county courthouse 148 years ago, when the Union army--140,000 soldiers strong--occupied eastern Stafford. So did the bulk of the county's other court records, creating a huge headache for landowners, lawyers and historians that lingers to this day.
The leather-bound ledger, its entries written with quill pen, was found recently by a manager at the Jersey City, New Jersey, Free Public Library as he gathered materials to mark the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War.
You can read more in an article by Clint Schemmer in the Fredericksburg.com web site at http://goo.gl/hiwMk.
My thanks to Shirley Wilcox for telling me about this story.
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