Work Begins to Preserve Revolutionary War Papers
 

New York museum works to preserve rare 18th century artifacts.

ALBANY, New York (AP) -- The major general was so well known that even his abbreviated signature -- "B. Arnold" -- was sufficient on a pass to ensure anyone safe passage.

But in September 1780 that signature sealed Benedict Arnold's fate, as the American hero of Saratoga became America's most infamous traitor.

The passes he scrawled for "John Anderson" -- the alias of John Andre, a British spy -- are among the most treasured items among the thousands of Revolutionary War documents and relics in the state library and archives in the New York State Museum.

Now, thanks to a nearly $164,000 matching grant from Save America's Treasures, a public-private partnership between the National Park Service and the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the museum can work to preserve fragile artifacts. Those include the Arnold note and one of George Washington's dress swords.

With one-third of the Revolutionary War's battles fought in New York state, the archive is a major repository for historic materials from that era, according to officials involved in the preservation project.

"It speaks to the tremendous emotional connection New Yorkers feel to the Revolutionary War, much in the way Southerners connect to the Civil War," said Robert Bullock, director of the Archives Partnership Trust, a not-for-profit organization affiliated with the state archives.

In a large, well-lit lab in the museum, conservators clean and restore documents that have become creased, torn and soiled with two centuries of dirt.

Many of the documents are charred around the edges, evidence of the 1911 fire at the state capitol that destroyed or damaged a vast collection of books and documents dating back to New York's beginnings as a Dutch colony. A corner of one scrap that has been reduced to the shape of a pineapple bears the second half of Washington's signature. Other documents bear the signatures of John Hancock and James Monroe.

The journal kept during New York's 1788 ratification proceedings for the U.S. Constitution ends in signatures including those of Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, George Clinton and Isaac Roosevelt, the great-great-grandfather of Franklin D. Roosevelt and a distant relative of Theodore Roosevelt.

"It's a who's who of early New York politics," said Andrew Arpey, an archivist with the state archives.

Papers connected to Arnold's treason include the passes he signed for Andre and a list of the defenses and troop strength around West Point that he supplied to the British spy.

Arnold switched sides after being passed over for promotion despite his battlefield successes, including having helped defeat the British at the Battles of Saratoga in 1777.

Andre was hanged as a spy soon after he was caught with the incriminating papers stuffed in his boot.

'Bout damned time! I'll bet that some ultra-liberal faction will want them translated into about 50 different languages, too. I hear that developers want to buy up some of the Gettysburg battle site property and put up condos and a shopping mall. Soon they'll be digging up and tearing down all our national historical sites and putting up bronze plaques to appease people to appreciate the sacrifices our ancestors made.

I once paid cash for a TV, using $100 bills. The kid at the register said he didn't know Ben Franklin was a president. :md:

did the Kid ever wonder why a 100$ bill was galled a Benjamin?? LOL

Over the years whenever the occasion for trivia has arisen...with both young and old alike....one of my favorite trivia questions has been:

"There are currently two denominations of circulating US paper currency that bear portraits of Americans who were NOT US presidents. Which denominations are they?"

So far, NO ONE has gotten them both correct without looking it up. :re:

I know ,I KNow one is Benjamin-100$ and the other is Alexander-10$, I used the First Name's cause the Denomination has their last name :D

LOL!

Pretty good, Jerry!

Here's another challenge for ya:

What was the denomination of the first US COIN to be struck by the brand new US MINT in Philadelphia in 1792?

The Mint's first delivery of coins occurred in 1793 and consisted of 11,178 copper cents.

http://www.usmint.gov/about_the_mint...tion=fun_facts

Rev,

Yup! That was the first delivery of the good ol' US copper pennies.

One cent coins have been manufactured EVERY YEAR since 1793 except for one year...1815.

I always wondered if the banks sorting machines for pennies have magnets so they can pick out the ww2 steel pennies ?

There is a news story going around that an entrepeneur has been buying up old cannon from small USA towns, paying cash and sometimes offering to put in a replica.