
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, February 18, 1991                   TAG: 9102180313
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A-5   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WILLIAMSBURG                                LENGTH: Short

COURT HOLDS OLD PAPERS IN OWNERSHIP DISPUTE

A collector of rare books has handed a collection of 81 Colonial-era and early American documents to Circuit Court for safekeeping until disputed ownership of the records is established.

Among the documents in the collection obtained by James D. Hamilton of James City County is one that appears to be the original 1691 charter of the town of Urbanna. The documents date from 1687 to 1818.

Middlesex County Supervisor Dan Gill got a court order Monday for Hamilton to surrender the documents to the court until the ownership question is resolved.

Gill, who said he became aware of the documents when Hamilton offered them to the county for $40,000, said the dealer is not entitled to own such records. Hamilton said he bought the papers in Florida.

State Archivist Louis H. Manarin, who examined the records briefly, said the Urbanna charter appears to be genuine and is the only charter he has seen for the 20 original port towns established by the legislature in the 17th century.

In addition to the charter, the records include a variety of property inventories, documents on slave trade and emancipation, and even a marriage dowry.

"In the context of the evolution of the commonwealth's history, these records are significant in that they show the role played by Middlesex County in that evolution," Manarin said.

A court hearing before Judge Russell M. Carneal Jr. is scheduled Feb. 26 to determine if Manarin can take the documents for 60 days to determine if they are public records. Public records would have to be kept at the State Library in Richmond or a local courthouse.

by CNB