It was one of those finds collectors dream about: A scrapbook containing a trove of 19th century political documents, including a pair of signed notes by Abraham Lincoln, discovered in a closet of a vacant home by a woman cleaning out the house preparing it for sale. But now questions of ownership have arisen from an antiques dealer and the federal government.

Laurie Zook, owner of Mission:Transition, a Frederick, Md., estate service, said the house in the Washington, D.C., suburbs of Silver Spring had been vacant for a decade. The family had no interest in its contents. She emptied a closet of its old books. Several weeks passed before she sorted through the boxes she hauled out.

The scrapbook revealed its previous owner to be a well-connected city socialite who attended many Washington political events. She glued her invitations, guest passes and letters in a scrapbook. About two dozen papers and documents were found. Among them were two notes signed in 1864 and 1865 by Abraham Lincoln, an official pass for his funeral, a card signed by President Chester A. Arthur, a funeral cabinet card for James Garfield, and several admission passes to the House of Representatives gallery.

Zook consigned the material to Mears Online Auction, a Wisconsin company that handles primarily sports memorabilia. Proceeds after expenses would go to the family who owned the house.

To drum up interest, Zook sent out her own press release announcing the find. Several area newspapers, including The Washington Post, interviewed her and published articles. This publicity, however, drew some unwanted attention that resulted in claims that some or all of the material may not be Zook’s to sell.

When local antiques dealer Christopher Keller learned of the discovery, he called Zook stating he found the material 13 years ago.

Keller told his story to Mears Auction and The Washington Post. He explained to Antique Week that he had attended an estate sale of a former military officer in Washington, D.C., managed by Zook. He found the documents inside a breakfront cabinet he bought from the apartment of the late US Marine Corps Colonel Adam C. Smith. Keller said he gave the documents, which were stored in “metal tubes that had caps on them,” to Zook so that she could return them to Smith’s heirs. He recalls some had “White House shields on them” and Lincoln’s signature.

Keller said he hadn’t given the documents any thought for over a decade until he was made aware of Zook’s find. He now believes her documents are the same ones. He called Zook asking why the material wasn’t given to the heirs pursuant to their agreement. Zook said they are a completely different group of papers. She corrected him on her blog stating what he gave her long ago were turned over to a family representative.

In an interview with Keller, it was suggested that because Zook’s discovery was glued in a scrapbook and not stored in metal tubes, it’s possible they are two separate Lincoln groupings. “I’m not excluding that,” Keller said. “But the chances of her running into to two major Lincoln finds, I don’t believe that.” He said he has been antiques dealer for 30 years and only once has found historical documents in the tubes.

Keller said he’s not claiming ownership. “I don’t want any money. I just want the rightful owner to get credit for it.” Zook insists that this was done when she gave the documents to a Washington attorney who is related to the family.

Zook’s problems weren’t over. The federal government entered the scene on Feb. 24, three days before the online auction of the material was set to end. It wasn’t the Zook-Keller dispute they were interested in but Lot 2, a 14-word handwritten note signed by Lincoln granting the pardon of Sergeant Major Adam Laws of the US Colored Troops.

Troy Kinunen, CEO of Mears Auctions, said a special agent calling from the Office of the Inspector General told him to withdraw the lot. The reason was the pardon may be a “federal record” and thus the property of the United States. Another agent called Zook with the same news.

With the lot pulled, the auction sold the two remaining Lincoln items on Feb. 27. A note dated July 28, 1864, sold for $11,364. It involved Col. Lane who was in charge of the 31st US Colored Troops. Lane, who is believed to be white, was accused of “cowardice and conduct unbecoming.” The pass to Lincoln’s funeral, sold for $5,700.

The other Lincoln lot is in limbo — and in the auctioneer’s safe — while the government determines if it can be traded in public. It’s a process that can take several weeks.

Finding missing antique documents is the job of the Archival Recovery Team. One of their investigators read an article about Zook’s find and concluded the Lincoln letter pardoning a black soldier may be U.S. government property. “There was enough in that article that made us want to take a closer look,” said Ross Weiland.

The Team works within the Office of Inspector General, a branch of the National Archives. They check eBay and other online auctions in search of items. They cruise antiques and Civil War shows. Agent Kelly Maltagliati said a letter stolen from the National Archives was recently found at a Civil War show.

Ross Weiland, who is Assistant Inspector General for Investigations, told Antique Week what they look for.

“The key question is, is it a federal record? And if so, it doesn’t belong to an individual it belongs to all of us. We want to get the record back to the Archives and make it available to the general public, authors, researchers, and whoever comes into the Archives and wants to look at this record. That’s essentially out mission.”

In addition to checking online auctions, Weiland said they “have relationships and connections with various dealers in the antiques and historical record world. We go to trade shows regularly and set up a booth. We try to work with people because any legitimate dealer doesn’t want to be selling something that was stolen from the National Archives. Our objective is not to raid people’s personal footlockers and take all their stuff. We don’t want it if we can’t prove it’s not ours.”

Asked if they pay for found documents as in Laurie Zook’s case, Weiland replied: “Whoever is in possession of it would have to provide that to us if it does belong to the Archives. We try to work with folks so nobody gets offended or hurt in this process. If we do come to a conclusion that it does belong in the National Archives, and the Archives comes to a conclusion they want to make the effort to get it back because of some substantive historical significance, then we’ll start working with the auctioneers and Miss Zook to try to make that happen in as a compatible way as possible.”

Laurie Zook has a plan. If she gets the letter back she hopes to sell it to a buyer who will promise to donate it to the National Archives and take a tax credit.

Information on how to report documents that may be federal property is found at www.archives.gov/oig