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Description:We have on offer a group of 4 original antique documents, three of which relate directly to Virginia and the American Civil War dated 1851,1861, 1866. The first two documents concern Fontaine Beckham & Mottrom Dulany Ball with the third relating to Daniel Coffman. These three are very interesting and scarce items.The fourth document relates to the Internal Revenue Service in 1891. Details, descriptions and conditions below.1. Printed court summons signed by Fontaine Beckham (1788-1859) as justice of the peace, Jefferson County, Virginia, 8 January 1851. Printed sheet completed in manuscript, signed 'F Beckham'.Fontaine Beckham was mayor of Harpers Ferry during the raid by John Brown in 1859 with Beckham infamously shot and killed during the raid, making him possibly one of the first casualties of the American Civil War.Condition: Mounted on red-velvet-covered thick card mount, sheet torn at lower right-hand corner not affecting text. Condition Good. - 7in x 53/4in (18 x 14.6 cm)Fontaine Beckham (1788-1859) was mayor of Harpers Ferry, Virginia, and local agent for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. He was shot and killed in the famous raid on the small outpost by abolitionist John Brown, today seen as a major event in the build-up to the American Civil War....... Beckham was the most prominent man killed during John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry, being the town's mayor, a county magistrate (in which capacity he signs this document), and a station agent for the B & O Railroad. Despite being a slave owner himself, Beckham was quite well-liked and considered by most to be a friend and benefactor of black men. He maintained a close friendship with his former slave Heyward Shepard, who also died during the raid.. After Shepard's death, some accounts state the mayor exposed himself to fire due to his clouded judgment. After Beckham's death, the infuriated town's people seized one of John Brown's imprisoned men, riddling his body with bullets. Yet Beckham's death also resulted in the only lasting freeing of slaves accomplished by the raid, as his will stipulated the freeing of five of his slaves......)2. Manuscript receipt for the purchase of 'negro slaves Dennis and Belinda', Fairfax County, Virginia, signed by a member of a prominent local family, Mrs. M C(sic) Ball, dated 15 April 1861. We believe this to a transaction by Mary Ball, the mother of the first Governor of Alaska, Mottrom Dulany Ball, who at the time was have been fighting for the confederacy. The verso of the receipt is marked for Dulany, (as he was sometimes known) who would have been considered the head of the family after the death of his farther in 1859. Single bifolium of heavy woven paper, 10 lines, written on one side only, conjugate leaf docketed 'Dulany'Condition: Damp-stained, creased from folding, loss to upper inner corner. Although stained the parchment is stable and heavy. Condition Good.- 7 1/2in x 53/4in (18.2 x 13.8 cm)Mottrom Dulany Ball, of Fairfax County, Fairfax Court House, and Alexandria, Virginia, was a musician, poet, teacher, lawyer, soldier and a founding father of the State of Alaska. Mottrom Dulany Ball, who was known variously as Mott, M.Dulany, or M.D., was born at Oak Mount, the home of his grandfather, Daniel French Dulany, in Fairfax County, Virginia on June 23, 1835.Mott was the son of Spencer Mottrom Ball and Mary L. Dulany. Both parents were from prominent Virginia families. President George Washington is included among their many distinguished relatives. Mott’s early years were spent at his grandfather, Mottrom Ball’s, plantation, Woodberry, near Lewinsville, Fairfax County, Virginia. The elder Mottrom Ball was a physician who was educated at the University of Glasgow, in Scotland. TheBall family estate, Woodberry, consisted of 1,200 acres of land, rectangular in shape, extending north from the Lewinsville Presbyterian Church all the way to the to the Potomac River. 2, 3 The extensive plantation included a grist mill, Ball’s Mill, which stood on Scott’s Run. The location is today known as Swink’s Mill.4 Modern day Ball’s Hill Road traces the path of a farm road which ran through the center of Woodberry ending at the family home, Elmwood, on Ball’s Hill, also known as Prospect Hill, just south of Georgetown Pike.5 Politically, Mott’s father, Spencer Mottrom Ball, was an Anti-Jacksonian. As the name implies, this party was opposed to the authoritarian policies of President Andrew Jackson and his Democratic party. Several anti-Jacksonian factions came together to form the Whig party in 1834. Whigs supported the supremacy of Congress over the presidency.....)3. Contemporary manuscript copy of two affidavits, one the same sheet, confirming Daniel Coffman to have been a loyal man during the rebelion [sic]', Greenbrier County, West Virginia, 1866.Single sheet of lined paper written recto only, small embossed stamp depicting the Capitol Building and with text 'Congress' various inconsistencies in spelling.Condition: Old folds, central fold just splitting at head, nicked along inner edge. Condition Good.- 9in x 7in (23.5 x 17.8 cm)First affidavit.State of West Virginia Greenbrier Co. June 1866.Personelly (sic) apparent before me a justice of the Peace John Sydenrtrleker (sic) and made oath that he knew Daniel Coffman to have been a loyal man during the rebellion and consider him the same use (sic) to this time Signed and sworn to before me in my township of fort spring this june 11th 1866...D Coffman JPS.....Second affidavit.State of West Virginia Greenbrier Co. June 1866.Personell (sic) apparent before me a justice of the Peace H H Brackman and made oath that he knew Daniel Coffman to have been a loyal man during the rebellion and he invest (sic) himself the same now and I believe what he said to meSigned and sworn to befor (sic) me in my township of fort spring...D Coffman JPS.....The Coffman family have lived in Greenbrier county since the Rev Isaac Coffman 1741 - 1824, buried in the Coffman Cemetery, Ronceverte, West Virginia.4. Internal Revenue receipt 'for special tax on the business of retail liquor dealer', paid by R. D. Burns of Lynchburg, Virginia, 9 December 1891 Engraved receipt in red and black, completed in manuscript.Condition: Aged, small hole to lower left, upper right corner chipped. Condition Good. - 9 3/4in x 7 1/4in (24.5 x 18 cm)General Definitions:Please view description aboveImperfections:Please view description above