07:26 AM EST on Monday, March 27, 2006

By HOLLY TABOR / The News-Enterprise

ELIZABETHTOWN, Ky. (AP) -- In 12 years of dealing antiques, Sarah Wilcox has been to a lot of estate sales.

Most of what she buys she sells through her Radcliff business, Sarah's Antiques. But occasionally, the Elizabethtown woman comes across a find she just can't seem to let go.

She found her most recent treasure upstairs at the sale of Annie Bland's estate in Louisville.

"It was the first thing I looked at," Wilcox said. "I saw this huge framed piece, and I just knew I wanted the frame. I had not even looked at the picture. All I saw was the frame."

The wood frame, about 3 feet tall and nearly square, with gold leaf detail and black lace border on the sides, desperately needed cleaning. She could tell it was old. Really old. But, she never looked twice at the olive, green and black image beneath the glass.

Though she didn't want to disclose what she paid for it, "It was a fairly reasonable price," she said. She knew she could resell it for a reasonable price and hung it in one of her stores where it stayed until a patron read the framed document and told Wilcox what it said.

"To all whom it may concern, know ye that M.R. Dillingham enlisted from Hardin County, Kentucky Oct. 9, 1861 and was mustered into the United States service at Louisville, Ky. Dec. 24, 1861 as a private of Co. F 4th Regiment Kentucky Vol. Cav. under Capt. N.B. Church and Col. Jesse Bayles to serve three years during the war."

The Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System of the National Park Service identifies M.R. Dillingham as Martin R. Dillingham, a Union soldier.

"He took part in engagement at Lebanon, Tenn., and the pursuit of John Morgan also many minor skirmishes," the poster reads.

It then goes on to describe the engagements in which Dillingham's regiment was involved, including several locations in Tennessee, Kentucky and Georgia, and to say Dillingham was honorably discharged Sept. 30, 1863, at Stevenson, Ala., "on account of surgeon's certificate of disability."

Beneath Dillingham's discharge it reads:

"This picture was presented by M.R. Dillingham to his wife Phoebe and children as an object lesson in patriotism Aug. 15, 1897."

After hearing what the poster read, Wilcox couldn't believe she hadn't noticed the Hardin County connection before.

"You gotta be kidding me," was her first thought, she said.

"Right quick I took that baby down and brought it home."

She propped the large frame on its easel in a corner of her dining room, placed a kitchen table chair in front of it, sat down and stared at it, studying every word, digesting every detail.

According to the listing of a similar piece on liveauctioneers.com, the document was an illustrated Civil War souvenir poster published in 1897 by Easel Monument Association in Chicago.

Posters like it depicting a three-tiered monument and the personal information of the soldiers who purchased them were sold as a fundraiser by war veterans to raise money to have a monument erected in a Union Soldiers and Sailors National Park.

With her magnifying glass, Wilcox has looked at the piece over and over again paying close attention to the expressions and clothing worn by the people depicted in the idealistic park setting, and the bicycles and the horse-drawn carriages lining the streets around the monument.

On the monument itself are four engravings titled "Good Bye," "Woman's Work," "On the Field" and "Lessons in Patriotism."

"Every time I look at it I see something different," Wilcox said.

The document hasn't been removed from the frame so Wilcox feels like it's a genuine piece. The frame looks to be as old as the document.

"It looks like someone started to remove the paper (on the back of the frame), but stopped because the paper was too fragile," she said.

Short of looking up Dillingham on the Internet to verify his Civil War involvement, Wilcox hasn't had a chance to learn much more about the piece, she said.

"The only thing I know about this one is what you see," she said gesturing toward it. She hopes to find Dillingham's descendants to learn more.

"I'm big on families staying in touch with their heritage," she said, explaining that she has explored her own family's genealogy back about six generations and continues to learn more.

Though this poster has nothing to do with her own lineage, it is special to Wilcox because of its connection to Hardin County and to the military.

Her husband was a veteran of the Korean War, and she firmly believes military men and women should be recognized for their service to the country.

"Whenever I see a GI -- I can always tell by the way they have their hair burred -- I go right up to them and tell them thank you," she said. "The military needs to be thanked for the freedoms we have around here. And, you know the families give as much, they give them up so we can have these freedoms."

To her, one of the most meaningful parts of this Civil War document has to do with the message that appears near the top of it.

"May future generations never forget the Debt of Gratitude they owe to the Brave Boys in Blue who on land and sea Volunteered their services during that memorable struggle for the preservation of our Union."

(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)