Gail Wilson Kenna of Wicomico Church recently donated four historical items to the University of Richmond.
Appraisers Owen and Ramsey of North Chesterfield authenticated the rare papers and noted their condition. The head of rare books and special collections, professor Lynda Kachurek, accepted the donation from Kenna and her daughter, Colonel Michelle Kenna Donahue, 56th Quartermaster Commandant at Fort Lee.
Of greatest value in the donated papers was a particularly rare and collectible hand-drawn poster with a rally invite to George Washington’s presidential campaign. A Norwich, Conn., newspaper from November 1781, had Washington’s reprinted letter to Lord Cornwallis, a month after the siege of Yorktown, reported Kenna.
A January 1800 Dover, Delaware, Sun newspaper contained Washington’s death notice. According to Ramsey, it is one of the most desired, sought after….
