BOSTON
Unbeknownst to Anna Plumstead, her attic in Wiscasset, Maine, held a treasure: one of the earliest copies of the Declaration of Independence, delivered to her town in 1776 as part of a campaign to spread its message through the original 13 colonies.
After Plumstead died in 1994, the document was sold at an estate auction. It changed hands several times, ending up with a private collector in Virginia who paid $475,000 for it in 2001. Now Maine is seeking to reclaim it, citing a state statute that says a public document remains public until explicitly relinquished by the government.
"In our view it belongs to the community," said William Stokes, a deputy state attorney general who will represent Maine at a trial next month in a lawsuit filed by the collector. "It got separated from the community through the passage of time, but our position is it never belonged to anyone other than the town of Wiscasset."
Plumstead's father was Wiscasset's town clerk from 1885 to 1929, and state officials believe that like many local officials of the era, he kept public records in his home.
Maine officials say the state is not obligated to pay anything to get the document back. It is unclear whether the state's statute regarding public documents will hold up in a Virginia court.
David Cheever, Maine's archivist, said only two other copies are known to survive in Maine, and they are painstakingly preserved in the State Archives and the State Museum.
The current owner of the Wiscasset document, Richard L. Adams Jr., bought it from someone in London, who had acquired it from a dealer in New York City who had advertised it for sale for six years, said Adams' lawyer, Robert Richardson.
