Thursday, August 18, 2005

Judge rules Confederate letters belong to state

According to WIStv. com, federal bankruptcy Judge John Waites has ruled that a collection of rare, Civil War-era letters belong to the state and not Thomas Willcox . Willcox tried to auction off more than 400 letters he has had in his family for generations. Willcox filed for bankruptcy soon after.

Many of the letters are correspondence between generals or the Confederate government and South Carolina Governors Francis Pickens and Milledge Bonham during the Civil War. Three are written by Confederate General Robert E. Lee.

The bankruptcy judge ruled Monday that the letters deal with the official duties of the governor and therefore are public records.

Background information on the letters can be found here.

The Charlotte Observer offers this account of the judge's decision.

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