My sister came by the house the other day and passed along a sword, a family heirloom, to me.   The scabbard is steel, the grip leather wrapped with wire, and the blade decorated with acid etchings.  Both sword and scabbard are covered with a warm patina.  The sword, as the family legend goes, belonged to an ancestor who fought in the Civil War.  I was intrigued, and decided to dig deeper, to learn what I could about my family’s history and, if possible, how this sword fit into it. Continue reading “The Story of Rufus Willis Lampman” →