Page News & Courier
Heritage and Heraldry
The Need in Keeping Page County’s Documented History in Page County
Part 2
Article of August 19, 1999
Since I’ve already laid the groundwork with the Civil War in Part 1 of this article, I might as well continue the path on which I’m running (a sigh goes up from the readership no doubt - ha ha!). Anyway, in a previous article I stated that Page had WELL OVER 1,200 veterans to wear the gray. Remarkably, less than twenty of those soldiers’ personal reminiscences, letters, diaries or otherwise have been found in some form or fashion and are available to the public through various libraries (from Chicago to North Carolina), published works, or on-line. Up front - the preservation of written documents by twenty soldiers seems like a great deal, but when you break into the averages, we aren’t really doing very well. As for myself - for having direct lineage to five Confederate veterans, I don’t have one letter, diary or memoir written by them of their service, nor do I have a photo of one of them in a uniform.
So what is the specific problem? Why aren’t there more of these things available for exhibition or research to the general interested population? From experience over the past decade I have found that there is a general reluctance to let anyone know that they had such things as they would be bothered to death by someone trying to buy the items. I can cite at least one instance that documents - that had been maintained within their “home” county for years - have been bought by someone outside of the county and that had no family ties with the author or family of the same documents. Furthermore, they intended to keep them as a part of their private collection and would deny the allowance of photocopies to anyone for public depository. A sad ending.
There are even those who are concerned that they would be worried to death by a family member for copies. Additionally, there is also a great concern that those that have these items might be in a compromised position with other family members in the instance that those other family members found out that they had these documents rather than someone else in the family. The solution to this would be simple. Make photocopies - deposit them anonymously in the public library - and if asked about them, just state that you had seen copies once at the library and were certain that they could get copies there. Of course, for those wishing to seek copies, when going to the library, don’t become a part of the overall problem and take the photocopies for your personal copies, leaving us back at the starting gate.
Finally, the point here is that we need to take a deep concern over what is happening to our heritage. If you wish to sell your families letters, diaries, photos, etc., that is of course your prerogative. Just please, before doing so, make copies to preserve for generations to come, as there are no guarantees that they will be safe in their next home.
When it comes to descriptive wartime letters, diaries, memoirs, or even photos in uniform, if all of what I have said still isn’t enough to insure you - please send photocopies (no originals please as there are no absolute guarantees with delivery services without a steep price) to me anonymously. I will make certain that copies are deposited in the Page Public Library - both the Luray and Shenandoah branches AND the Heritage Association’s Calendine- to help to insure preservation for all generations to come.
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