The Mathews journal. (Mathews C.H. [Court House]) 1903-1937, 1912-06-20

| fails TO recover the exceptionally val
liable historical papers. said to have
been stolen from the State Library in
1865 and recently put on sale in Naw
| York by the estate OF Benson j. Loss
| ing. she will have no one to blame
but her own Legislature and the off
Gals acting under the guidance of
that body.
And. furthermore, she may consider
/ herself fortunate in having recovered
in 1897, during the O'Ferral admins
tration. at least part of the docu-
ments' Tor they came back to Rich
! mond at a time when the State had
practically abandoned all efforts TO
| recover them. 1t was through the
disinterested zeal of MoOrefield Storey,
Boston attorney, that this recovery
was hao. and 1t came as the result
OF compromise effected by him with
Mrs LOSING after he had been or
dered to abandon the suit
One thing, however, is certain.
charles Poindexter, who was the State
Librarian at the time il was first learn
ed the missing papers would be nut
on sale. ~ In no way to blame for
the disinterested attitude of the Com
monwealth. He has all along been
lmoued with burning desire to bring
ABOUT complete recovery of all the
papers. whose value, in his opinion,
cannot be estimated.
Mr.. Poindexter went to Boston along
about 1892 In an effort to recover the
documents. which were plainly the
property of the State. Legal machin-
cry at that time was set in motion to
assert the rights of the State. But
the matter dragged along in a half
hearted way without definite results.
Mr.. Poindexter retired as State Lii
Drarlan in 1893, being succeeded by
w. w. Scott, and a year later the
suit instituted for the recovery of the
papers was altogether abandoned
Up TO that time the Commonwealth
mad put up only 500 in the matter
yet this sum, despite the supineness of
the State, actually bore rich fruits.
Even after Attorney Storey had been
told to abandon the litigation, he went
ahead OF his own initiative and
/ brought about an arrangement with
MRS: storey, whereby a large batch
/ OF the documents were returned to
| Virginia
They were received in IS97-five
years after the first steps in the mat
ter were taken-and were referred to
in a message by Governor O'Ferrall.
Refer TO CORVALLIS and Lafayette.
1t may be well to explain here that
the documents, which came back to
! virginia in 1897. as well as many
which are still withheld, relate to the
Revolutionary War campaign of 1881
I in Virginia CORVALLIS in that wear
was active in Virginia and the Caro-
| linas, while Lafayette commanded the
patriots in this State. Most of the
| letters refer to the movements of
Lafayette, and they constitute origi-
| nal sources of Information which shed
a hood of light on the Revolution.
Mr.. PoindeXter, who for years has
| felt vexed by the inactivity OF the
Commonwealth in the matter, as we'll
as somewhat mystified at her course,
| finally decided to write ATTORNEY
Storey and ascertain definitely what
influence stayed his hand. This cor
respondence took place some years
ago The lawyer gladly gave Mr.. Poin-
dexter all the information at his COM
t MAJ, including copies of several let
ters sent him by State officials. Fur
thermore, he authorized the publica-
! ton OF these.
one letter, written March II. 1894
by Joseph T. Lawless, then Secretary
OF the commonwealth, and addressed
20 the law firm of Storey x Thorn
dixie, Boston, reads as follows:
conference.-the matter i'm uues-
Jon was brought before the proper
committee of the General Assembly
at its late session, and by it submit
ted to a subcommittee for examina
uon and report Pending the action
or the subcommittee, L felt 1 had no
authority to proceed in the premises
but inasmuch as the subcommittee
mas not reported to the full commit
zee, ana lnasmuch as the Legislature
has adjourned sine die. it is proper
you should be advised. From the dis
cusS1on OF the case before the full
committee am of opinion that the
sense of the members is that il is
impossible to develop sufficient testi-
mcny to conduct the case TO a sue
ceSsful conclusion Whether the COM
mittee would or would not make an
offer OF compromise / am not pre-
pared TO express an opinion. Ny i'm
preston is that ii is disposed to take
no action.
Feared Lack OF Evidence.
On July II. 1894, State Librarian
w. w. Scott. who succeeded Mr.. Pom
dexter. wrote the lawyers in these
words:
The Secretary of the Common
wealth REQUESTS me 10 say in reply to
yours of the 26th ult. that the leg
islatiVe committee that had in
charge the investigation of the mat
ter in your hands, has only returned
the papers this morning. They say
they have exhausted every measure
TO procure evidence TO establish the
ownership OF the papers, without sue
cess, and while they have no doubt
/ That the papers are the property OF
the State, in the absence of legal tes-
timOny TO establish title, they. cannot
| authorize the Secretary to prosecute
suit which they can hardly hope TO
gain. The Secretary regrets that the
| Commonwealth has to submit to the
loss of part Of her ancient archives
| anu CSpCCAdAAy Lltdl ClllZGnS OF ner so
/ sworn and loyal sister, Massachusetts
| should become the possessors of them
in SO fragrant a manner, but he can
only make the best of a bad situation.
as instructed by the committee, and
not subject her to further costs in a
futile effort to recover her own.
On July %. 1894, Librarian Scott
| sent this letter TO the attorneys:
Yours of the goth to hand. The
| Secretary of the Commonwealth and
appreciate highly your desire to
compass the restoration Of the State
archives; and had he or I the final
word in the matter our disposition
| would be to make the best effort we
could to help you accomplish the end.
But we have not the final word. On
the contrary, the Secretary has been
virtually instructed by the Legislative
committee having the matter in
charge not to subject the treasury TO
further expense in the case, beIiev.
ing, as the committee does that with
such evidence as Is attainabIe the eff.
fnu-Hx h.. ftnffI