When Union troops raided the Brentsville Courthouse during their occupation of Prince William County, Virginia 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. Many genealogists would like to obtain some information from those "missing" papers that date back to May 1779. Now they may soon have the chance.

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 eBay. 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.

The entire story is rather long and very interesting. You can read the full article in The Washington Post’s online Web site. To view the entire article, go to www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A49406-2001Jul11.html

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