An Engineer at War
The journey a book takes can often leave behind physical traces of people and places. One of The Addison's most valued items is this engineering manual, published in 1860. It may not look like much, but this book allegedly belonged to one of Addi McDowell's ancestors, who carried it with him in his knapsack while fighting in the Civil War.
The signature reads E. Rohcher, U.S. Navy 1860, but, oddly enough, there is no one of that name in US Civil War soldier databases. The McDowell family believes that an unknown Union soldier (perhaps registered under a false name) either died or lost the book, with it eventually coming into the possession of Zimri G. Brady. Zimri Brady was a Confederate soldier of the 44th North Carolina Infantry, who eventually died in 1865 as a prisoner of war at Point Lookout, Maryland; he is also Addi McDowell's great-great-great-great uncle. The book, along with the rest of his personal effects, were allegedly shipped back to North Carolina after his death, where it has stayed in the family ever since.
Verifying this tale is incredibly difficult, but the book itself offers clues that historians and scientists could examine to discover the true story behind this book. Remarkably, partial fingerprints can be seen hidden within several pages, as well as several intact hair folicles. Though the process is long and expensive, the true provenance of this book could potentially be uncovered through extensive DNA and forensic testing.
Hypotheticals in History
Sometimes, a mysterious book like this can lead librarians down rabbit-holes of information. For example, when Addi McDowell was researching her ancestor's final years, she found a collection of drawings from the POW prison at Point Lookout. A sketch of a prisoner and his invention, an engine, appears in the collection. The man in the drawing is unidentified. This find led to the realization that, if Zimri Brady did own this book at Point Lookout, there is a chance that he used the engineering knowledge from it before he died. Could this engine have been made with the help of this engineering manual? Could the inventor have maybe been Zimri, himself? Though these hypotheticals are to be taken with a grain of salt, sometimes rabbit-holes like these can lead to the most rewarding of answers!