Free Republic

A Virginia man was sentenced yesterday to two years in prison for stealing more than 100 Civil War-era documents from the National Archives, including some he tried to sell on eBay. Howard Harner, 68, took letters authored by Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and other historical figures. Federal prosecutors sought a lengthy sentence to help discourage trafficking in stolen American history. Harner, of Staunton, pleaded guilty in March to hiding the documents in his clothing and smuggling them out of a National Archives research room from 1996 to 2002. Prosecutors said he made $47,314 by selling the documents to a...

Like many genealogists, historians and other researchers, Howard Harner was a regular visitor at the U.S. National Archives in downtown Washington, D.C. He spent hundreds of hours there from 1996 through 2002. However, he wasn't simply seeking information. He was stealing. Harner was "researching" letters from military officers and government officials involved in directing both the Civil War and the westward expansion of the United States, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Among the documents that Harner stole were letters from famous historical figures such as Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and Generals Lewis Armistead and George Pickett. When nobody...