I've not read the will, but if the intent was that the foundation would 
preserve and present the house & contents as a museum (with or without 
charter), they may not be free to sell it. The foundation did operate it 
as a historic house museum for 50 years until it became a separate 
entity. The foundation and house were so closely bound together it may 
not be easy to prove separation.

You raise an interesting point about gifts to a sitting governor, they 
may wish they hadn't stirred up that particular pot.


On 2/25/2013 12:46 PM, Julianne Snider wrote:
> If the museum did not own the painting then, sad to say, there is not 
> much they can do about the sale.
>
> A bigger red flag is who really does have legal ownership of the Cole. 
> The article mentions that the painting was given to Seward while he 
> was governor of New York. Frequently, gifts to office holders become 
> property of the state, not the person. Does the Foundation really own 
> the painting or does New York own the painting?
>
>
> On 2/25/2013 11:28 AM, John Marks wrote:
>> This is a deaccessioning story with a legal twist. The home and 
>> contents of William Henry Seward (Secy of State, the short guy in 
>> Lincoln) in Auburn, NY was left to a local foundation with the intent 
>> of being a museum. The historic house didn't receive a state museum 
>> charter until 2009, at which time some of the contents were legally 
>> transferred from foundation to museum - but not all. Foundation kept 
>> ownership of a Thomas Cole painting that was commissioned for and 
>> given to Seward and has hung in the house for most of its existence.
>>
>> We're familiar with both the intent of wills and press release spin, 
>> please take a look and see what you think of the situation
>>
>>
>> http://auburnpub.com/news/local/valuable-painting-formerly-on-display-in-seward-house-to-be/article_a5ed7b03-9468-576f-8603-c16237c46956.html 
>>
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