1864 Robert E. Lee Letter
Watch
GUEST:
It's a letter from Robert E. Lee to my great-great-great-grandfather, Charles Minnigerode, who was the rector of St. Paul's Church in Richmond during the war.
APPRAISER:
When he was in Richmond, was he Confederate? Did he fight in the war, or he just...
GUEST:
Oh, no, no, he was too old to fight. He had actually been in Williamsburg originally. He came from Germany. He's actually credited with doing the first Christmas tree indoors in Williamsburg, and they celebrate that tradition. Robert E. Lee was an Episcopalian, so they'd known each other for quite a while in Richmond.
APPRAISER:
What you have here is a letter of Robert E. Lee. One of the nice things about the letter is it's fully in his hand. It's done in 1864. Obviously Lee must have communicated to your many-great-grandfathers that they needed help, they needed money, but they also had a lot of wounded soldiers. And this letter is thanking him for contributing money to help with amputees. The Confederacy, by 1864, was starting to lose a lot of people, were in very bad shape, and obviously your relative was very nice to contribute.
GUEST:
My father took this down to the Museum of the Confederacy a few years ago to get it reframed and remounted. In it, Lee mentions a check that he's sending along as a contribution, and the people at the museum were able to check records and find a record of the contribution. They were impressed that Lee had actually made his own contribution too.
APPRAISER:
Many times, in the heat of battle, and they were definitely in the heat of battle at that time, a lot of the letters tend to be very, very formal. They're to other commanders, other soldiers. This isn't an uplifting subject, but it is a personal letter. It does show the humanity of both of them. It definitely is a beautiful signature of Lee right here. The museum beautifully did it up for you. Robert E. Lee letters are good. Fully hand-written letters are better. And then, you know, talking about something that, again, gets into the suffering, the hardships of war, the amputations that the men have to be made to feel better, and then knowing that he responded on it...
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
I would say a conservative retail-- in other words, if you were in a shop-- a conservative retail would be in the $3,000 to $5,000 range.
GUEST:
Oh, wow. Well, don't tell my family because I think they will never see it again. (laughter)
APPRAISER:
Well...
GUEST:
I'll probably spirit it away.
Appraisal Details
Executive producer Marsha Bemko shares her tips for getting the most out of ANTIQUES ROADSHOW.
Value can change: The value of an item is dependent upon many things, including the condition of the object itself, trends in the market for that kind of object, and the location where the item will be sold. These are just some of the reasons why the answer to the question "What's it worth?" is so often "It depends."
Note the date: Take note of the date the appraisal was recorded. This information appears in the upper left corner of the page, with the label "Appraised On." Values change over time according to market forces, so the current value of the item could be higher, lower, or the same as when our expert first appraised it.
Context is key: Listen carefully. Most of our experts will give appraisal values in context. For example, you'll often hear them say what an item is worth "at auction," or "retail," or "for insurance purposes" (replacement value). Retail prices are different from wholesale prices. Often an auctioneer will talk about what she knows best: the auction market. A shop owner will usually talk about what he knows best: the retail price he'd place on the object in his shop. And though there are no hard and fast rules, an object's auction price can often be half its retail value; yet for other objects, an auction price could be higher than retail. As a rule, however, retail and insurance/replacement values are about the same.
Verbal approximations: The values given by the experts on ANTIQUES ROADSHOW are considered "verbal approximations of value." Technically, an "appraisal" is a legal document, generally for insurance purposes, written by a qualified expert and paid for by the owner of the item. An appraisal usually involves an extensive amount of research to establish authenticity, provenance, composition, method of construction, and other important attributes of a particular object.
Opinion of value: As with all appraisals, the verbal approximations of value given at ROADSHOW events are our experts' opinions formed from their knowledge of antiques and collectibles, market trends, and other factors. Although our valuations are based on research and experience, opinions can, and sometimes do, vary among experts.
Appraiser affiliations: Finally, the affiliation of the appraiser may have changed since the appraisal was recorded. To see current contact information for an appraiser in the ROADSHOW Archive, click on the link below the appraiser's picture. Our Appraiser Index also contains a complete list of active ROADSHOW appraisers and their contact details and biographies.
