BOSTON (WHDH) - On the 246th anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill, a special surprise.
“It’s a great treasure, belongs here. It’s history,” says Arthur Hurley, President of the Bunker Hill Monument Association.
Three guestbooks signed and kept at the Bunker Hill monument during the Civil War, returned.
42,000 signatures, including Mary Todd Lincoln, the president’s wife.
“It really does underscore how precious this monument is, that people would actually come and memorialize their visit here,” says Julie Hall of the Bunker Hill Monument Association.
The guestbooks had been up for auction, but no one is quite sure how they got there.
“We really don’t know to be honest. The monument did change hands at one point,” says Julie Hall. “Maybe they were in a box somewhere; somebody threw them in their bag, and they ended up in someone’s home.”
The guestbooks were bought at auction, by self-proclaimed “Political Philanthropist” David Rubenstein.
“He’s been a history buff, he’s been a student of history, he was involved in making history in the white house before he went on to his financial endeavors,” says collector Seth Kaller.
Kaller appeared in Rubenstein’s place Thursday, donating the books back to the Bunker Hill Monument Association.
“It was just an opportunity to bring something back to where it was meant to be and maybe get people a little more excited about history,” says Seth Kaller.
The books will be on display at the Bunker Hill Museum, which recently opened its first floor back up again.
“This is a huge coming home for us,” says Hall.
The Bunker Hill Monument Association says they now have 66 guestbooks they are hoping to digitize in the future, to make them more accessible.
Seth Kaller says some more historical artifacts may be coming to the museum in the future.
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