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

DATE: THURSDAY, November 23, 1995                   TAG: 9511240020
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-17   EDITION: HOLIDAY 
SOURCE: The Boston Globe
DATELINE: BOSTON                                LENGTH: Medium

GEORGE WASHINGTON'S LETTER COMING BACK, VIA GARY COOPER KIN

Almost fifty years after it was discovered stolen from state archives, a letter George Washington sent to Massachusetts officials in 1777 is being returned to the state by the daughter of the late actor Gary Cooper.

The letter, one of 17 from Washington known to have been stolen from state archives, is valued at $24,000 and was set to be sold by the auction house Christie's, when it was identified as stolen.

Maria Cooper Janis, the actor's daughter, informed Secretary of State William Galvin that she had learned in September from Christie's that the letter had been stolen, and was returning it.

Galvin said there is no suspicion that Cooper, a Hollywood star who died in 1961, had anything to do with the theft.

``I want to emphasize that to the best of our knowledge, Mr. Cooper received the letter as a gift and had no role in its disappearance,'' said Galvin, who plans to push for the return of other stolen documents.

In a letter describing her discovery that the letter was stolen, Janis informed Galvin that her father had received the document as a gift from ``an unknown party.''

``The letter hung in the Cooper Family Library in Beverly Hills for many, many years,'' Janis told Galvin. ``To the best of my recollection, the letter was given to my father in the late to mid-1940s, however, this is only my best guess.''

Christie's plans to return the letter to the state in early January.

The letter, dated Nov. 5, 1777, was written by Washington when he was camped at Whitemarsh, Pa., outside Philadelphia. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington was instructing the Governor's Council then running Massachusetts on how to treat the British and Hessian prisoners who had been captured at the battle of Saratoga where the Americans had defeated Gen. Burgoyne.

Christie's flagged the letter after Galvin's office had released to the major auctioneers and dealers around the country a list of documents missing from the state archives.

There are still 16 letters from George Washington listed as stolen from the state files. One outlines the plans for fortifying Dorchester Heights just before Washington forced the British to evacuate Boston on March, 17, 1776.

Galvin said he hopes the incident involving the Cooper letter will help lead to discovery of the remaining Washington letters and others that are missing.

by CNB