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Local family’s historic collection of local United States artifacts head to auction

Collection offers a glimpse into early American history

DUBLIN, Va. – A priceless collection of items that tell the story of one of Pulaski County’s first families.

“It’s amazing that it is still here and that it hasn’t either disappeared or been sold,” said Jim Bell.

Bell, who’s lived in his family home built in 1915, said it’s time for his family’s collection that predates the start of the country to have a new home.

“This is kind of the end of a very long journey and the beginning of a new one,” Bell said.

Inside the home there are all types of historical artifacts with some even dating back to the 1700s.

“I think it’s dated 1773, so that three years before the country is founded,” said Tony Williams with Farmer Auctions.

Bell hired Farmer Auction to sell the collection.

I walked through the house with appraisers who showed me some of their favorite finds.

“This was probably a gift from an English merchant,” said Larry Clevinger with Farmer Auctions. “These were really popular in the 1700s, what is really cool to me is it was broken, and a silver smith actually repaired the break for them at the same time he put the silver on. This is The Life of Stonewall Jackson, of course Jackson is killed in Chancellorsville, wounded and then died right after.”

They said this collection is special, and some of these items could be worth well into the thousands of dollars.

“You can find it printed in New York but the Richmond copy is extremely rare,” said Clevinger. “I have never seen one in 35 years.”

There are also family artifacts and mementos like a VMI ring from 1860 and a signature from Robert E. Lee believed to be from a thank you letter.

“It is definitely a Lee signature,” said Clevinger. “It is is a nice Lee signature and an awesome rare image.”

Now Bell said all that is left is for everything to be auctioned off and passed on to the next generation.

The auction will be online sometime this month.

You can find it here.


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About the Author
Thomas Mundy headshot

Thomas grew up right here in Roanoke and is a graduate of Salem High School and Virginia Tech.