‘Yankee’ library returns book to its ‘Confederate’ home
Cathy Vollbrecht, public information administrator for Stafford County, Va., sent in this photo of a 220-year-old court ledger that was returned to the county in December 2011 after it had been missing for 150 years. The ledger — an "order book" transcribed in 1791 that describes the activities of the Stafford County Court from 1749 through 1758 — was removed from the Stafford Courthouse by a Union soldier during the Civil War, according to a hand-written note on the inside cover of the ledger. It eventually made its way to the Jersey City Free Public Library's New Jersey Room, where the room's assistant manager recognized that the book was inconsistent with the library's collection policy and contacted the Library of Virginia to arrange for its return. The volume is being scanned, microfilmed and conserved by archivists at the Library of Virginia, where it will remain.
Published Jan. 30, 2012
Cathy Vollbrecht, public information administrator for Stafford County, Va., sent in this photo of a 220-year-old court ledger that was returned to the county in December 2011 after it had been missing for 150 years. The ledger — an "order book" transcribed in 1791 that describes the activities of the Stafford County Court from 1749 through 1758 — was removed from the Stafford Courthouse by a Union soldier during the Civil War, according to a hand-written note on the inside cover of the ledger. It eventually made its way to the Jersey City Free Public Library's New Jersey Room, where the room's assistant manager recognized that the book was inconsistent with the library's collection policy and contacted the Library of Virginia to arrange for its return. The volume is being scanned, microfilmed and conserved by archivists at the Library of Virginia, where it will remain.
Published Jan. 30, 2012