I for one (at times) like seeing good things published and try not to put everything into a negative spin.  I have been critical of certain items sold on some historical sites but appreciate the historic value dicussions....  but at times you have to stand back and give an "atta".

So to our Mr. Bill;  An ATTABILL for his involvement and facilitation of a stolen document back to the US NAtional Archives.    There are lots of spins that some would take and we have to listen to adnauseum Alerts but for a moment let's acknowledge the good deed.  Ok that's enough where's my flamethrower  ...lol

For almost six decades, Bill Panagopulos' family has come to their Earleville farm to escape the hustle-and-bustle of New York City life.

In late July, however, Panagopulos didn't come to his family's farm to unwind, but to highlight a find of great historical importance.

The U.S. National Archives filmed a video at Panagopulos' family farmhouse that detailed his efforts to return two documents stolen from Civil War-era Commission Branch records, including one with President Abraham Lincoln's signature.

On Thursday, the Stamford, Conn., auctioneer stood with David Ferriero, Archivist of the United States, in Washington, D.C., for the National Archives' formal announcement of the recovery.

One of the documents recovered was a lengthy, hand-written endorsement by Lincoln of the Rev. Henry Edwards as chaplain of a military hospital in Hagerstown in 1862.

The National Archives and its Office of the Inspector General are committed to identifying documents that belong in its custody and arranging for their return.

"They were most likely stolen from the War Department in the early 1930s before the National Archives were created," Panagopulos said.

He originally handled the documents about four years ago, when he found a New York dealer willing to buy the documents from his Rhode Island-based consignor.

Early in 2009, however, National Archives' investigative archivist Mitchell Yockelson saw documents in the catalogue of the New York autograph dealer and knew that they belonged in a Civil War-era commission branch file held by the National Archives.

"Yockelson and another archivist spent hundreds of hours researching where this letter had been and where it should be, in order to get it back," Panagopulos said.

Upon learning of the rightful owner of the documents, Panagopulos refunded the buyer's purchase price and the items were returned to him.

The original consigners agreed to refund to Panagopulos what he had paid for the documents and to allow him to return the items to the National Archives.

"My Rhode Island consignors will receive a Letter of Donation from the National Archives' that will make it tax deductible," Panagopulos added. "The archives, my consignor and the buyer should really receive all of the credit in this donation, I simply helped facilitate."

The two items returned to the archives on Thursday included a letter to Lincoln, dated Nov. 6, 1862, from three military surgeons requesting that the president appoint a chaplain to serve in hospitals treating the wounded from the Battle of Antietam.

It also included the wrapper, or cover sheet, of Edwards' military file, on which Lincoln had endorsed the appointment. The president's signature was dated Nov. 12, 1862.

"It's a remarkable document," Panagopulos told the Archives. "A lengthy endorsement like this by Lincoln on a letter of this content is superb. You just don't see them."

For Panagopulos, history has always been a passion.

"When all of the other kids were going to Disney World or baseball games, my father was taking me to Gettysburg, the Acropolis and archaeological excavations," he said.

As president of Alexander Autograph, Inc., Panagopulos has made history his livelihood.

Over the past 25 years, his appraisal and auctioneer business has put him in touch with more than 40,000 historical documents and artifacts, he estimated.

Panagopulos said that it was important that the American public be able to enjoy these historical treasures as the rightful owners of the material.

"Lincoln signatures aren't terribly rare, but to find this letter that is so poignant in its approach and so important in its subject matter, is really very special," he said. "And as someone who started collecting Civil War-era documents and having this connection to Maryland, it's satisfying to see the documents where they belong."

The video the Archive's filmed can be found on the National Archives' website at http://www.archives.gov/press/press-releases/