Tug of war over a Declaration of Independence

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.

Maine officials learned of the document from an anonymous phone call to the State Archives, Stokes said. They searched for it for several years, he said, tracking it to Virginia.

Adams sued Maine in 2005 after the state threatened to file criminal charges against him, Richardson said. In the court in Fairfax, Va., Adams is seeking clear title to the document on the ground that "he is a bona fide purchaser and didn't do anything wrong," Richardson said.

Cheever said Adams should be able to get his money back if Maine prevails. "He has taken excellent care of it," he said. "He is either a serious collector or a serious investor."