WINCHESTER, Va. (AP) - A mid-1800s weather vane valued by Sotheby's New York at $3 million to $5 million has found a temporary home after failing to sell at auction.

The 6-foot-tall copper weather vane known as "Old Jake" will be on display at the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley for three years beginning July 3.

"Old Jake" has topped the Rouss Volunteer Fire and Rescue Company's fire houses in Winchester since around 1860.

The fire company decided to sell "Old Jake" at Sotheby's New York's Americana auction in January. But the highest bid, $2.1 million, did not meet the undisclosed reserve price.

President Tim Clark says the fire company decided several weeks ago to loan "Old Jake" to the museum.
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On the Net:

Museum of the Shenandoah Valley: www.shenandoahmuseum.org

Rouss Volunteer Fire and Rescue Company:
www.roussfirecompany.com

___

Information from: The Winchester Star,
http://www.winchesterstar.com

Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AP-ES-06-23-09 1145EDT

POINT PLEASANT, W.Va. (AP) - Every quilt has a story, and for some Mason County residents that story also is a tourism and business opportunity.

A group of Point Pleasant residents are developing a quilt trail through Mason County that will lead visitors to farms, businesses and historic locations across the county.

Each location on the trail is marked with a unique 8-foot-by-8-foot square, designed and painted by local residents, that represents the area's historical or family significance.

"Our hope is that people will go out and do a kind of hide and seek or an Easter egg find with the quilt trail," said Jackie Byars, coordinator for the Great Kanawha Resource Conservation and Development council.

Point Pleasant is the center of Mason County's tourist industry, and the trail is a way to draw some of those visitors out to the rest of the county, said Dennis D. Bellamy, chairman of the Mason County Tourism Center.

Year round, history buffs visit the area for its Revolutionary and Civil War history, and fans of Mothman come for the paranormal aspect, Bellamy said. The Mothman is a creature reportedly seen in the Charleston and Point Pleasant areas in 1966-1967. Most observers described the Mothman as a winged man-sized creature with large reflective red eyes and large moth-like wings.

The Mason County Quilt Trail will offer visitors a way to explore some of the county's hidden historical farms and homes and other treasures, he said.

Ohio is famous for its Amish, but not many people know Mason County also has an Amish community that sells furniture, food and other goods.

"It's how you get people out this way," Bellamy said. "People can hit the Amish community that is otherwise unpublicized."

It's also a business opportunity for many residents whose property is marked on the trail.

"The hope is people will open their own businesses stemming from the traffic the quilt trail generates," Byars said. "When they have 50 or 100 people driving by every weekend, they would want to open something."

Residents can set up corn mazes, or a roadside stand selling jams, pottery or fresh produce, Byars said.

It's a way for residents to tap into agri-tourism and increase business opportunities for niche and cottage industries, she said.

West Virginia State University Extension Service has teamed up with these groups to offer business workshops and training for county residents
interested in starting their own business with trail.

The Quilt Trail is completely generated by county residents and business owners who see it as an opportunity to share some of the area's history or increase their marketability, Byars said.

"This really is a program that encourages community support and a desire to preserve the rural fabric of the county," she said.

The Quilt Trail Program began in Adams County, Ohio, and has since spread to 21 other states.

Mason County's trail is the first in West Virginia.

Byars plans to start expanding the trail into Putnam County next year.

"We're taking a region approach," Bellamy said. "The hope is for it to become the West Virginia Quilt Trail, not just the Mason County Quilt Trail."

So far, the trail's steering committee has put up eight squares.

They are scheduled to have a new square each month until October, Byars said.

"We're on a roll," Byars said.

Typically a county has about 30 squares, but Byars believes there is enough history and residents interested in participating that they will far exceed that number.

The project's steering committee has divided the county into four driving trails and one walking trail that goes through Point Pleasant.

Each section of the county will have a theme that ties the area together, Byars said.

The trail is also a way to tap into Point Pleasant's growing art scene, Bellamy said. The town has several popular galleries and one of the nation's
largest murals spanning its riverfront, he said.

Visitors can spend a day following the trail through rural parts of the county, then come into Point Pleasant and follow the trail to some of the
city's businesses and galleries, he said.

While the trail is primarily geared toward the history buff, there's something for everyone, said Jane Coles, a member the steering committee.

"History is just one piece of the puzzle," Bellamy said. "(The trail) is designed to fit so many different niches and fits so many peoples' interests."

There's shopping for the ladies and farm equipment to check out for those who like to tinker, said Mollie Yauger, another member of the committee.

The program is funded by grant money and is free to all residents interested in taking part.

The group is putting together a map and brochure with information about each square. They plan to have it ready for distribution in the fall.

For more information about the quilt trail contact the Mason County Tourism Center at 304-675-6788 or www.masoncountytourism.com.

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Information from: The Charleston Gazette, http://www.wvgazette.com

Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AP-ES-06-20-09 1050EDT

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - A rare leather-bound book that played an influential role in America's early history could bring a windfall for a soldier training for his second tour in Iraq.

Indiana National Guard Capt. Nathan Harlan was a high school junior when he paid $7 for a 1788 first edition of volume one of The Federalist - a two-volume book of essays calling for the ratification of the U.S. Constitution.

Harlan, 35, from Granger, Ind., said he always thought his find might be worth about $500, not the thousands it could fetch when it's sold online Tuesday by Heritage Auction Galleries of Dallas.

"I'm really hoping it goes for $100,000, but I'm not holding my breath," he said, chuckling.

The divorced father of three was 16 when he bought the 227-page book in 1990 after his mother spotted it among book stacks as they browsed at a South Bend, Ind., flea market.

Harlan's high school history class happened to be discussing The Federalist - also known as The Federalist Papers - that same week, so he knew the book was special.

The two-volume set was published months after the Constitution was drafted in September 1787 in Philadelphia. Its collected essays helped rally support for ratifying the document that provided the federal government's framework, said Mark Dimunation, chief of the rare book and special collections division at the Library of Congress.

The essays were penned by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and John Jay, all of whom used the same pseudonym to focus attention on their pro-ratification arguments.

"It's one of the great political documents to come out of America," Dimunation said. "And the favorite parlor game of the late 18th century was who wrote which essay."

After displaying his find in a shadowbox for 19 years, Harlan decided in April to sell it on eBay in part to make some money, but also because no one else in his family appreciated the book.

Harlan did an Internet search for The Federalist just before listing the book on the online auction site. He changed his mind about eBay when he saw that Heritage Auction Galleries sold a complete two-volume set last year for $262,900 - a lofty price aided by the fact that it was in its original form and had been owned by a Revolutionary War soldier.

Harlan owns just a single volume, and its leather cover has been replaced, but the auction house estimates it will sell for $8,000 to $12,000. James Gannon, Heritage's director of rare books, calls that range "very conservative" and says bidding could push the final price between $20,000 and $30,000 because the book is sought-after.

Harlan will get all the proceeds. Heritage is waiving its standard 20 percent seller's commission in recognition of his upcoming service in Iraq. He plans to save most of his auction earnings after paying a few bills.

Harlan, who is currently training at Indiana's Camp Atterbury, will likely be overseas by the time he gets his money. He will deploy this summer with the rest of the 140-soldier 38th Combat Aviation Brigade for up to a year.

Nick Aretakis, an associate with William Reese Co., an antiquarian book dealer in New Haven, Conn., said the book could be especially appealing to a collector who owns only the second volume and wants the other half.

"It's always better to have the complete set," Aretakis said. "But it's such an important book that even having just a single volume is a nice thing. And it was a good buy at $7."

___

On the Net:

The Federalist Papers at the Library of Congress: http://thomas.loc.gov/home/histdox/fedpapers.html

Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AP-CS-06-15-09 0407EDT

TULSA, Okla. (AP) - A classic car designed by Howard Hughes has been sold at an auction in Tulsa for $1 million.

Former Portland Trail Blazers center Bill Smith bought the 1936 Lincoln Boat Tail Speedster on Saturday, saying he considers it a bargain. Smith says he feels like the car "should be at least a $3 million car" because it was designed at the peak of the eccentric Hughes' genius.

Audrey Sevenoaks Young of the Leake Auction Co. says bidding began at $500,000 and there were five people bidding on the car.

Smith says he hopes the car will eventually end up at the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum in Oregon, where Hughes' famed "Spruce Goose" plane is on display.

___

Information from: KJRH-TV, http://www.kjrh.com

Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AP-WS-06-14-09 1755EDT

AUBURN, Ala. (AP) - Auburn University has acquired a rare letter from Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant to Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee outlining the terms for the surrender of Lee's army, clearing the way for an end to the Civil War.

The handwritten letter is dated April 10, 1865. Dwayne Cox, head of Auburn Libraries Special Collections said it is a copy Grant made of a letter he wrote to Lee the day before after Lee formally surrendered at Appomattox Court House.

"In 30 years as an archivist, I have never received an item of greater significance," Cox said.

The letter has been independently authenticated by two experts. It was a gift to the university by James L. Starr, a 1971 graduate.

HONOLULU (AP) - Documents bearing signatures of U.S. presidents have turned up in a lot of unexpected places: attics, libraries, even thrift stores.

But how did an innocuous Civil War-era memo bearing Abraham Lincoln's signature end up in the state archives of Hawaii, which was not part of the United States at the time? State researchers are trying to find out.

The memo dated Sept. 22, 1862, orders the secretary of state at the time to affix the U.S. seal to a separate piece of paper, a proclamation dated the same day.

That proclamation was the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln's official warning to rebellious Southern states to return to the Union within three months or face military emancipation of their slaves.

Hawaii records indicate they've had the memo - but not the proclamation - for at least 74 years.

"We knew we had it," said Luella Kurkjian, chief of the archives' historical records branch. "Quite frankly, we didn't know what it was. There was no documentation with it."

Hawaii's archives also contain one letter each from Lincoln to King Kamehameha IV and to his brother, King Kamehameha V, and a note from Lincoln appointing a new U.S. consul, Alfred Caldwell, to the Kingdom of Hawaii.

The Kingdom of Hawaii was overthrown by mostly American residents in 1893 and annexed to the United States in 1898. It became America's 50th state in 1959.

"Those three all make sense to be in the Hawaii State Archives," said Daniel Stowell, director of the Papers of Abraham Lincoln, a part of the
Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Ill.

"This one is a fish out of water," Stowell said of the 1862 memo. "I mean, it doesn't fit. Why is it here?"

Officials are following a couple of clues. Back in the 1920s and '30s, the archives received several donations from a collector named Bruce Cartwright Jr., grandson of Alexander Joy Cartwright, considered by sports historians to be the inventor of baseball. One of those donated items was the Lincoln-signed note announcing Caldwell's appointment, Kurkjian said.

"It's my guess that (Cartwright) is the donor" of the proclamation memo "and for whatever reason it wasn't properly documented," she said.
"I can't prove it. I've been trying."

"Its an interesting mystery," Stowell said.

___

Hawaii State Archives: http://hawaii.gov/dags/archives

Lincoln Presidential Library: http://www.alplm.org/home.html

Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AP-CS-06-09-09 0927EDT

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - A Louisville millionaire and an Alabama gun collector he accused in a lawsuit of cheating him by marking up prices on world-class antique firearms have settled their dispute, a federal judge said.

The judge dismissed the lawsuit filed by Owsley Brown Frazier against Michael K. Salisbury in 2004, claiming Salisbury overcharged him by more than $1.5 million for a slew of famous guns.

U.S. District Judge John Heyburn wrote in the dismissal order Thursday that the two parties had reached a settlement. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

Attorneys for Frazier and Salisbury did not immediately return phone calls Monday. A phone call to Salisbury's home was not returned.

Salisbury, of Owens Crossroads, Ala., befriended Frazier in the late 1990s, and Frazier enlisted him to amass a firearms collection for a Louisville museum Frazier was developing. He traveled the country, finding weapons that belonged to Gen. George Custer, the Apache chief Geronimo and Theodore Roosevelt, according to court records.

But their friendship soured and Frazier, a descendant of the founder of liquor giant Brown-Forman, sued Salisbury, alleging the collector was inflating prices to turn a hefty profit.

In 2006, federal prosecutors announced a criminal case against Salisbury and his wife, Karen Cruse Salisbury, after they were indicted on fraud and money laundering charges. The indictment alleged that in one instance in 1999, Salisbury bought Custer's Colt pistols for $235,000, but told Frazier that the guns were worth $300,000.

In the criminal trial last year, both were acquitted of all felony charges. Salisbury's attorneys had argued throughout the trial that Frazier had set up an off-the-books agreement so Salisbury could turn a profit for his efforts.

Salisbury was convicted, however, on two misdemeanor charges of failing to pay taxes and sentenced to two years in prison. A judge is allowing him to stay out of prison while the conviction is appealed.

Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AP-CS-06-01-09 1704EDT

ABERDEEN, Miss. - Dwight Stevens, owner of Stevens Auction Co., has asked the public's help in tracking down several pieces of stolen furniture that have been missing for approximately two months, now.

The articles in question were en route to Stevens' gallery to be consigned to auction. Along the way, on March 21, 2009 in Birmingham, Ala., the furniture was stolen.

LAS VEGAS, N.M. (AP) - It may be a recession, but the Plaza Hotel is having good fortune with its recently completed $5 million renovation of the adjacent Charles Ilfeld Building.

"We have our first wedding in the new ballroom Saturday night, and we have bookings already into August 2011 for the ballroom," Troy Denison, director of sales and catering, said recently.

General manager Janine Duncan said the project, which had its grand opening last week, had been in the works for six years. "It wasn't a recession when we started," Duncan said.

Considered a product of Las Vegas' boom days, the Ilfeld building was originally one of the first department stores in the West, built in 1883.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - A hole nearly 5 feet deep behind a restaurant in the Lower Garden District is the latest sign of owner David Baird's continuing efforts to learn the history of the building he bought in 2003.

In 2004, the architectural historian of the New Orleans Historic District Landmarks Commission concluded that the building - two Creole cottages under one massive hip roof - was probably built in 1810-13. That would make it the oldest known structure on the upriver side of Canal Street, Eleanor Burke wrote.

Baird said his own research indicates that it could date back to just before the Jesuit order was expelled from the colony of Louisiana in 1763-64, and all of their lands and possession sold at public auction.

GREAT FALLS, Mont. (AP) - A Belgrade couple sold a rare Winchester rifle for $93,000 at auction.

Walt and Pat Woodland sold the Winchester Model 1873 One of One Thousand to a Seattle-area collector during an online auction conducted by Shobe Auction & Realty on May 9.

Winchester records show the historic firearm was made in 1877 and shipped from the Winchester factory a year later.

The One of One Thousand rifles were fitted with barrels proven to shoot more accurately than standard barrels. The company intended to make 1,000 of the rifles, but records show that only about 133 were completed.
___
Information from: Great Falls Tribune,
 http://www.greatfallstribune.com

Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AP-WS-05-15-09 1349EDT