On October 27, 2006, the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals in Richmond upheld the decision of the Charleston Division of the United
States District Court that more than 400 Civil War letters do not belong to the
state of South Carolina. The South Carolina Attorney General has argued that
these records of Governors Francis Pickens and Milledge Bonham are public
documents and belong to the state. The Attorney General's Office
has petitioned for a rehearing.
The correspondence with military officers and the Confederate government was
held for several generations by the family of Thomas Willcox, who attempted to
auction the documents in 2004. When an injunction halted the auction, Willcox
declared bankruptcy. Since then the courts have been involved in determining
whether the items belong to the state or to Willcox’s assets. The latest ruling
is based on the argument that possession is a strong presumption of ownership.
Follow these links to see the Bankruptcy Court Order,
the District Court Reversal, and the
Court of Appeals Opinion.*
*These documents are in Acrobat PDF 
format. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader, you must
download it before viewing the file. There is no charge for
the program. If you have questions or comments about the Acrobat
file, please contact us.