Rare Robert E. Lee Photo Found at Goodwill Is Auctioned
EmailSome go to Goodwill for jeans, furniture, maybe even some good DVDs if they’re lucky. But when Richard Schaffer of Harpers Ferry, W.V., perused Goodwill he stumbled across a small photograph of Robert E. Lee that looked old enough to be real.
He eventually paid $23,000 for it.
“It looked like s*** honestly and that’s what appealed to me,” said Schaffer.
That was enough to make Schaffer, 45, take a second look. When the photograph first posted on Goodwill’s online site, shopgoodwill.com, it was only $4.
But then something happened. Suzanne Kay-Pittman, spokeswoman for Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee, said that the price started shooting up.
“In 18 hours, it was above $6,700,” Kay-Pittman said.
Goodwill took the picture offline and to Larry Hicklen who runs several Civil War antique shops near Stone River battlefield. He dated it circa 1865-1870. He described it as a tin type photograph, probably not an original, but maybe a copy of original. He said that the pose had not been seen before but noted that the image was very similar to the famous “floppy tie” Civil War portrait. This photograph, however, had a slightly different facial expression and faces a different direction.
Good enough for Goodwill, the company reposted the picture on August 31. Several days, 131 bids, and over 40,000 page views later, Schaffer finally acquired the rare piece.
Schaffer, a veteran antique collector, has still not laid eyes on the actual photograph and will not until Kay-Pittman hand-delivers it to him Monday at his Harpers Ferry restaurant, Secret Six Tavern. Then he will have it examined by his own private firm in Washington, D.C.
There are risks. The picture could end up being an absolute fake and be worth less than $1,000. Schaffer says that $23,000 isn’t all that much in the antique world and is just part of the gamble.
“You may win or you may lose,” said Schaffer. “It’s like the stock market.”
But if he wins, he would win big. He estimates that if the picture really is as rare as he believes, it could easily be worth six figures.
And if he loses, it will have just been an auction casualty. He says that Goodwill seems willing to work with him if the picture turns out to be a fake. Even if his money is not returned, Schaffer takes comfort in knowing that his money is going to a good place.
“It’s a very important charitable organization, truly one of the finest nonprofits in the U.S.,” said Schaffer.
Kay-Pittman notes that, through the sale of this one item, Goodwill will be able to train 69 people to go out and get jobs.
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Goodwill might want to check out the value to begin with. When it comes to old pictures, especially of famous people, it seems a no brainer.
Posted by: Thomas | September 19, 2011, 2:05 pm 2:05 pm
I’d be reluctant to buy any antique online.
Posted by: Thomas | September 19, 2011, 2:07 pm 2:07 pm
Congrats to the buyer, if it’s real!
Posted by: heretic zero | September 19, 2011, 3:21 pm 3:21 pm
Now there is a picture of a man who fought for you and me!
Posted by: Vee | September 19, 2011, 3:24 pm 3:24 pm
Vee – he fought for you and me as long as you and me aren’t black or a woman.
Posted by: Max | September 19, 2011, 3:51 pm 3:51 pm
Many of the South’s military leaders battle tactics are still required course work at military colleges today.
Posted by: Allen | September 19, 2011, 4:09 pm 4:09 pm
Allen, So are the tactics of the ancient Greeks and Romans
Posted by: John | September 19, 2011, 4:31 pm 4:31 pm
Max
Most people know very little of American history so don’t feel too bad.
Robert E Lee was opposed to slavery. He gave freedom to the slaves he inherited on his father’s plantation. He stated his views several times before the Confederate Congress. That made him unpopular with some in the Confederate government.
I those days many people saw their state as their nation. The United States was seen by many to be the equivaleant of today’s NATO. Lee said before the war: “My heart and my sword belong to Virginia”. He didn’t fight for slavery, he fought for Virginia.
Posted by: oonogil | September 19, 2011, 4:33 pm 4:33 pm
Lee wasn’t into freedom for all which is what America is suppose to stand for Vee.
Posted by: achillies | September 19, 2011, 4:34 pm 4:34 pm
Goodwill was once the primary supplier to E-Bay sellers. Then they brought the auction in house at ShopGoodwill. Last year, their auction site brought in $100 million.
Posted by: wantingbalance | September 19, 2011, 5:25 pm 5:25 pm
The victors get to write the history. So Lee “wasn’t into freedom for all” when it came to the black man….but Lincoln and the other great Emancipators like Sheridan, Custer and Pope are heroes…even if they were exterminating the Plains Indians.
Posted by: Micah | September 19, 2011, 5:26 pm 5:26 pm
Robert E Lee—-should have been hanged. Traitor.
Posted by: whoopstheydiditagain | September 19, 2011, 5:29 pm 5:29 pm
MICAH
Add Jackson to your list. He promised amnesty to Jean Lafitte and his men for their service in the Battle of New Orleans. Immediatly after the battle he ordered their arrest.
Cherokee saved his tail feathers at the battle of Horseshoe Bend. In spite of that and the US Supreme Court rulling he ordered their lands seized and their removal to Oklahoma. One forth died along the way.
Few know that Lincoln once owned two slaves given to him as a wedding present. Gen Grant owned slaves until the end of the war.
Most Americans get their knowledge of history from poorly written movies. Which makes them as ignorant as a bowl of kinechi.
Posted by: oonogil | September 19, 2011, 5:53 pm 5:53 pm
Some of you should read up on Lincoln’s plan for what is now known as Belize. You may be shocked at how little you know!
Posted by: Scotty H | September 19, 2011, 6:52 pm 6:52 pm
lousy of goodwill to pull the original auction . . .
Posted by: tess2011 | September 19, 2011, 7:31 pm 7:31 pm
“Many of the South’s military leaders battle tactics are still required course work at military colleges today.”
And every one of them received their training at West Point. Just as Grant, Sherman, etc. What’s your point? The south lost the Nation won.
Posted by: Atilathehun101 | September 19, 2011, 8:56 pm 8:56 pm
“Robert E Lee—-should have been hanged. Traitor.”
No, not at all. REL was/is an honorable man who joined and served because he was a loyal Virginian whose State had sided with the south.
Posted by: Atilathehun101 | September 19, 2011, 9:01 pm 9:01 pm
Vee, Lee was not “a man who fought for you and me” – he was a man who knew breaking up the union was wrong but succumbed to peer pressure and aligned himself with his neighbors instead of his country. He lost men in staggaring numbers – 25% in one battle alone. Had he stood by his convictions instead of going along with an idea he knew to be wrong who knows how many lives, on both sides, might have been spared. He fought for the side that thought owning other people was not just profitable, but right. God forgive him.
Posted by: Cassandra | September 19, 2011, 9:28 pm 9:28 pm
Goodwill is the store to shop, if you are serious about finding quality items at dirt cheap prices. For starter, how about a brand new $1,200 Vesace jacket for $9.99? Most of these trendy stores donate items they have not sold to non-profit organizations and get a tax write-off from IRS. If you go Goodwill looking for used item, that is exactly what you will find. if you go to Goodwill looking for new items, that is exactly what you will find.
Posted by: NoFlyZone2 | September 19, 2011, 9:48 pm 9:48 pm
CASSANDRA
Lee stated, “My heart and my sword belong to Virginia.” Lee, like many in his day considered his state to be his country. Virginia was as much his first loyalty as the US is to an American soldier serving as part of a UN or NATO force today. In his eyes he would have been a traitor to have taken arms against Virginia.
Both sides of that war lost men in staggering numbers. More Americans died in our civil war than in all the wars since combined. Besides, Custer lost his entire command and you probably admire him.
Posted by: oonogil | September 20, 2011, 12:45 am 12:45 am
he was a loyal Virginian whose State had sided with the south.—yes. Like I said. Traitor to his nation. TRAITOR! He should have been hanged. The worse thing ever done after the civil war was allow the southern traitors to imagine themselves other than what they were…traitors to their nation. They should have been hanged. The debate over what the war was about would have died with them. Try to secede from the nation today. Try to take over a federal fort today, any ambiguity as to whether you’re a criminal or not?? The nation was founded, a constitution ratified in 1788. That you didn’t get your way in a presidential election is too freakn bad for you. You dont then attack a federal fort, think you’re going to steal all the munitions and ports, etc, and think you can just up and walk away because you didn’t get your way. That same bad attitude can still be seen in the south and should have hung with the traitors who perpetrated it. Lee was a traitor to his nation. He should have called on Virginians to follow the oath of the nation. The tide was turning against slavery. Then turn with it. It is a disgrace that he fought on the side of perpetuating the ownership of human beings. He has no honor. His legacy is that of a traitor and a racist and a slave enabler to every human being on this earth except the delusional southerners. Sort of like Germans never see themselves as aids in exterminating the jews. Yeah right. Who do you imagine you’re kidding? Yourselves, maybe, not much else.
Posted by: whoopstheydiditagain | September 20, 2011, 1:05 am 1:05 am
Lee was evidently better educated than many people today. Look up the word ‘state’. — “A nation or territory considerd as an organized political community under one government. — The civil government of a country.” The word state is often used when referring a nation. Our ‘Secretary of State’ does not deal with the 50 states, she represents our nation when dealing with other countries such as the ‘State of Israel’ on such matters as the proposed ‘Palestinian State’. …. Prior to the civil war most states issued their own currency. It was a different world that we live in today with different concepts and different ideas. Many saw their state as their country. Not just Lee and not just Virgina. That in part is what the war was over.
Posted by: oonogil | September 20, 2011, 1:50 am 1:50 am
I’ll bet shopgoodwill did not inform him there was an ownership dispute before they took Mr. Schaffer’s money to leave him with the problem…
Posted by: Gary Connor | September 23, 2011, 2:45 am 2:45 am