At every opportunity, Lee King, director-curator at the Riddick’s Folly House Museum in Suffolk, enjoys sharing a priceless treasure with museum visitors.
Forget a sturdy iron-banded chest stuffed with gold and silver and secured with an imposing padlock to keep out greedy hands. King’s simple wooden and glass box contains a paper treasure, and it’s not cash.
The glass pane on the lid invites inquisitive visitors to take a peek at the priceless contents: a law book with an unusual handwritten inscription.
“The book is priceless at Riddick’s Folly museum because of the contents of the letter, who it was written to, and the book it was written in,” King said. “It was one of Nathaniel’s law books. This may not be a treasure anywhere else, but it is here.”
Maj. Gen. John Peck commanded Union forces in Suffolk. When threatened by 25,000 Confederate troops commanded by Lt. Gen. James Longstreet, Peck organized the Union forces into a large defensive ring surrounding the town.
“That’s when Nathaniel Riddick and his wife fled to Petersburg,” King said.
Nathaniel Riddick’s pretentious mansion served as headquarters for Peck and his command staff in the heart of the occupied town during the siege of Suffolk. Riddick’s home remained inhabited by Union soldiers until the end of the War of the Rebellion.
“When they left, they took 85 to 90% of what was in the building. As far as we know, we only have one original door knob. They took the rest of the door knobs,” King said. “The Riddicks came back to a completely looted home.”
Riddick’s law office in a separate, single story building next door to the looted mansion fared better than his home. Riddick’s elegant furnishings were far more attractive to looters than his law books.
On the inside cover in one of the books in Riddick’s law office, a signal officer on Peck’s staff left a cordial message for Riddick, the absentee owner.
In spite of being actively engaged in a tragic civil war, Lt. Amos M. Thayer was a visionary in that he was able to disagree with Riddick’s politics without berating his unwilling host.
Curator Lee King has memorized Lt. Thayer’s pleasant note to Riddick and routinely offers to recite Thayer’s comments for Riddick’s Folly visitors during house tours.
“We know it was written by A. M. Thayer. He was a signal officer for the Union troops,” King said. “He wrote this letter in the front of one of Nathaniel’s law books, and he left it behind for him to read.”
It says: “Mr. Riddick — Dear Sir — Whilst you were away from home striving to subvert this Government the necessities of war made me an inmate of your office — I have great respect for your evident desire to promote the agricultural interest of Eastern Virginia — great respect for the taste displayed in ornamenting your grounds and I’ve no doubt that a better acquaintance would make me a more admirer of the talents which you evidently possess — But whilst I am no abolitionist I must confess that I believe the cause in which you are engaged decidedly wrong — We shall see however — I hope to meet you on friendly terms in more peaceful times and enjoy you socially.”
It was signed: “A. M. Thayer Signal Officer U.S.A.”
After the war, Lt. Amos Madden Thayer became a U.S. Circuit Court judge. Riddick also served as a local judge following the war and as mayor of Suffolk. Riddick died in his law office in 1882.
As for the book with the cordial inscription, it was purchased at a yard sale in Suffolk for the grand sum of 50 cents by Marion Watson, a local historian and author, who knew the historic value of the tome, with the personal message. When Riddick’s Folly became a house museum, the volume was donated to the museum.
Today, the prized book is locked in a small glass and wooden case to protect it. Thayer’s handwritten note has faded with time but is still clearly legible.
