Recently, "replevin" was in the news (okay, actually it wasn't as the reporters didn't know the word, but the concept made news). 

http://www2.hickoryrecord.com/content/2010/jan/05/davy-crockett-document-sparks-tampa-court-fight/lifestyles/

A 90 year old woman has the marriage license of Davy Crockett, and Jefferson County wants it back, claiming its a permanent record.

Believe it or not, the nearly broke State of New York worries about this as well.  Zjabs purchased an estate of a teacher.  In there, there were attendance books with students names.  Zjabs listed it for sale, and was contacted within a couple of days by the historian of the local town, claiming the book belonged to the town.  He had found out about the item from a state worker who apparently spends her day looking for these sorts of articles.

Zjabs and the gentleman worked out a deal that was mutually beneficial.  Others I know have not been so lucky. 

I am aware of one case in Georgia where the courts ruled that although the records in question were indeed permanent records, if the state was a poor steward of the records, then title did indeed pass to the collector.

This affects collectors and dealers across the country.  It's one thing if I break into City Hall and steal records, and then try to sell them.  It's quite another if I buy a lot of stuff from a teacher- the town didn't care about the record back in 1938 so why are they worrying about it now?  And who knows what was thrown out in 1885?  Things may have been given away, thrown away or sold over 100 years ago, and of course if I buy them, I have no receipt proving this (though of course, the government has no police report from back then reporting the items stolen....).

I thought of this the other day.  A few months ago, the Rochester Historical Society had a sale of items it no longer needed in the collection.  Not that this happened of course, but what if....  the City of Rochester had donated some public records in the 1920s?  And now the RHS decided it doesn't need them, so it sells the items.  When I purchased items at the sale (which I did), I got a receipt that simply said "Books".  Now what happens if I list a given item on-line, and the city of Rochester wants it back.  The RHS can deny it sold it to me (as I don't have a receipt with that given item written on it), the city can demand the item back, and even though I purchased the item with apparent clear title...I could be out both the money and the item (again, this DID NOT happen, I'm just using it as an example).

For those of you who collect or sell, be careful when purchasing "official" records- they may indeed have entered the trade legitimately but the government doesn't care about that- they just want their things back even though they never cared about them in the past.

-Zjabs (Rochester's Official Columnist)

© 2010 Zjabs - 2/9/10

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