Historic value

View larger image The hand-drawn birth certificates of Joseph and Margaret Spengler, dating to the 1700s, will be available for auction at Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates in Mt. Crawford on Saturday. Courtesy photo Recommend This Print This Get E-mail News Alerts Buy Photos/Page Reprints * Breaking News If local news is breaking and you know about it: * Call Us: 800-296-5137 * E-mail Us * Upload Your Photos View larger image Courtesy photo

Hand-drawn birth certificates survive for six generations

By Jessica Wiant -- jwiant@nvdaily.com

Aside from maybe President Obama's, birth certificates might not come to mind as something of particular interest of value, but that certainly isn't the case with a pair of colorful Strasburg artifacts set to be auctioned this week.

The birth certificates of Joseph and Margaret Spengler, dating to the late 1700s, are expected to fetch between $50,000 and $100,000 when they go on the block at Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates in Mt. Crawford on Saturday.

Hand-drawn records -- frakturs -- weren't unusual during that time period, according to Evans, but the style of the Spengler birth certificates sets them apart.

The focus on imagery more than lettering is what makes them different from traditional frakturs, Evans said.

Featuring a drawing of a man and woman along with flowers and the actual written information about the births, the certificates are credited to the Rev. Heinrich Diefenbach.

Diefenbach, according to the catalog listing online, was recorded as a fraktur artist and theology student. It is likely he made the certificates while ministering in Augusta County around 1799 or on a trip through the Shenandoah Valley in 1802, according to the catalog. They are his only known works of that time period. And though recent books have identified Diefenbach as an artist, there are no other known examples of his work, Evans said.

But beyond the artist and the aesthetics of the birth certificates, it's sometimes the story behind items that makes them valuable, according to Evans.

The more information available about an object, the more valuable that could make it, according to Evans. People are looking for meaning, he said.

The certificates have stayed in the same family for six generations, beginning with Johann Philip Spengler (1771-1837).

Johann Philip Spengler and Regina Stover (1763-1814) had four children near Strasburg, according to the catalog, with the Joseph and Margaret, the subjects of the birth certificates, being two of them.

Joseph, according to the catalog, went on to marry twice and father 18 children. He was educated as a lawyer but instead lived the agrarian life, tending a farm of more than 1,000 acres near Bentonville in present day Warren County, the catalog says. He went on to serve as justice of the court in newly-formed Warren County in 1836, as sheriff from 1837-1839 and as justice again from 1840-1846.

As for his sister Margaret, little is known about her life, and she apparently never married or had children, according to the auction house's information.

The auctioneers originally identified the certificates as valuable during an appraisal for the family around 20 years ago, Evans said, and eventually their ownership became too much of a burden for the current owner.

The family has had good quality copies made, and the auction house has advertised the auction of the originals to museums and other parties they think might be interested, Evans said.

"Then you just have to wait for the auction," Evans said.

The auction house specializes in Shenandoah Valley decorative arts and antiques -- including textiles, pottery, furniture and more -- holding consignment auctions each month at its location in Mt. Crawford, south of Harrisonburg.

Another item to be auction on Saturday is a clock from the Steele family of Stephens City.

Evans said a lot of decorative arts items are still emerging from Shenandoah, Frederick and Rockingham counties, maybe more than anywhere else in Virginia.

Anyone who thinks they might have an item of value may email photos to Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates or attend the free appraisals that they hold on the Wednesday prior to each monthly auction.

For information about items up for auction, auction schedules, contact information, location and more go online to www.jeffreysevans.com.