i'm jamie colby. and that's one strange inheritance no one would take with them. ♪ ♪ >> in the beginning, god created the heaven and the earth. >> a rocket scientist and minister on a heavenly mission... >> that was my dad's dream -- to get the bibles to the moon. >> ...a parable of loads of fiches... >> a whole bible is on here? >> so the whole 1,245 pages. >> ...lunar bibles, the lost books of apollo. >> well, reverend stout and his wife,en they left nasa, just kind of vanished from the pages of history. >> until a court puts them under a microscope. >> you're saying that her intentions were sinister? >> and the value of each tiny bible -- out of this world. >> items that have gone to the moon can command six or seven figures. >> if you do the math, that's a lot, a lot of money. [ door creaks ]

[ wind howls ] [ thunder rumbles ] [ bird caws ] ♪ >> i'm jamie colby in houston, texas, the hub of the american space program, to meet an heir whose strange inheritance is hundreds of bibles that went to the moon. >> my name is jonathan stout. my father made it his life's mission to land the good book on the moon. those lunar bibles are my rightful inheritance, but they're locked up in a judge's chamber because someone else is trying to claim them. >> hi, jonathan.i'm jamie. >> it's great to meet you. >> thanks so much for writing and inviting me here. jonathan brings me inside to show me a small sample of his strange inheritance -- this tiny piece of microfilm. that's it? it's as small as a postage stamp. what's on there? >> that's the entire bible. >> on one little, tiny microfiche? >> on each sheet. >> when it's magnified

under a microscope, sure enough, there's the holy scripture. >> that was my dad's dream to get the bibles to the moon. >> wait. your inheritance, these little teeny, tiny bibles, went to the moon? >> yes, they did. >> jonathan's dad, john stout, born 1922, is a whiz kid who grows up near fort worth then heads off to texas a&m. he earns one degree after another. what were they in? >> religion, mathematics, science, chemistry, biology. >> incredible. stout serves as a rocket-unit commander for the army in world war ii, then goes to japan as part of the occupying forces. >> after he saw all of the suffering over there is when he got motivated to do god's work. >> he's ordained as a minister in 1957 and moves his family, which includes wife mary helen and their adopted son,

jonathan, to brazil to do missionary work. what did he do in brazil? >> he started different schools, and he even started an orphanage down there. >> stout also teaches astronomy at a local university, where he makes the news by capturing these images of the soviet satellite sputnik using manual calculations. he's asked to join the newly created national aeronautics and space administration, nasa, in houston. >> reverend stout was a man of the cloth, but he was also a man of science. >> space historian robert pearlman. >> the reverend's official role at nasa was as senior information scientist, but he was also a chaplain and fulfilling his spiritual role as well. >> was religion a part of the astronaut's life? >> there were some that were very religious. they had their own belief system separate from what they were doing for nasa. >> stout's religious and scientific faith are tested in 1967 after tragedy

strikes the apollo 1 mission. >> the apollo 1 crew of gus grissom, ed white and roger chaffee, they were in the final preparations for their launch when a fire broke out in their capsule. >> all three astronauts are killed. >> that had a profound effect on reverend stout. >> carol mersh has written a book about stout's biblical quest called "the apostles of apollo." >> and stout decided to form what's called the apollo prayer league. >> the league, created under the auspices of a presbyterian church in nearby pasadena, texas, has a simple goal. >> their mission would be to pray for the astronauts and the skill of the mission control employees who built the rockets they would fly. >> in the beginning, god created the heaven and the earth. >> membership swells after the apollo 8 mission when astronauts read from the book of genesis while making the first circle around the moon

on christmas eve, 1968. in its heyday, how many people belonged to the apollo prayer league? >> there was 40,000 members. it was worldwide. >> it's one small step for man... >> apollo 11 -- man walks on the moon. >> ...one giant leap for mankind. >> but reverend stout dreams of another milestone -- land the holy bible on the lunar surface. if that seems like an easy enough next step for mankind, think again. >> there was weight considerations. there was size considerations. every pound, every gram counted. >> that's when reverend stout has an inspiration. >> the national cash register company debuted this microfilm bible -- more than 700,000 words in a 1-by-1-inch piece of plastic.

>> stout orders up several copies of the microscopic bible, but then... >> houston, we've had a problem. >> here's a "strange inheritance" quiz question. the answer after the break. introducing stocks by the slice from fidelity. now you can trade stocks and etfs for any amount you choose instead of buying by the share. all with no commissions. stocks by the slice from fidelity. get your slice today. stocks by the slice from fidelity. i am totally blind. and non-24 can throw my days and nights out of sync, keeping me from the things i love to do. talk to your doctor, and call 844-214-2424. ♪ ♪

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>> it's c. aldrin brought wine and bread from his church and became the first christian to partake in the sacrament on a body other than earth. >> in houston, in 1969, reverend john stout has a holy mission -- get the bible to the moon. the nasa scientist who doubles as a chaplain to the astronauts thinks he's found a way with this microfiche version of the text, not much larger than a postage stamp. a whole bible is on here? >> so the whole 1,245 pages... >> i can't believe it. >> ...is on here. >> apollo 12 astronaut alan bean agrees to carry one of these tiny bibles with his personal items. >> unfortunately, a counting error, basically an inventory error, made it such that it was stowed

in a pouch inside the command module, so it never made it to the surface of the moon. >> stout tries again with apollo 13 the following april. >> they approached jim lovell, and they said, "will you take bibles, but this time we're going to give you 512 of them." >> once again, things do not go as planned. >> houston, we've had a problem. >> an explosion damages the spacecraft, but it miraculously returns safely to earth amid the prayers of people around the world. >> apollo 13 was a good example of why the apollo prayer league was formed. people were able to contribute their prayer to assist people in getting back. >> the microfiche bibles also make it home. three hundred are repackaged for astronaut edgar mitchell on apollo 14... ...which touches down on the moon february 5, 1971.

what was your dad's reaction when he saw the astronauts walk out on the moon with his bibles? >> well, he was ecstatic because the fact that he got to have one of his dreams come true -- it just thrilled him to no end. >> mitchell returns all the lunar bibles to stout, who in turn gives some to apollo prayer league members and vips like then congressman george h.w. bush, vice president spiro agnew and bob hope. >> i do know that the family of the apollo 1 astronauts, the ones that perished on the pad, my dad made sure that their families each received a bible. >> at the close of the apollo missions in 1972, reverend stout moves on from nasa and later retires, his holy mission largely a forgotten tale. >> and even today, i don't think the public at large is aware that a bible went to the moon. >> by the early 2000s,

stout's son, jonathan, now living in utah with his wife, senses his parents are showing signs of dementia. was there some point where you became concerned about their condition? >> absolutely. they just couldn't really think for themselves anymore like they used to, and by that time, their health and really, really deteriorated. >> you're an only child. >> yes. >> who else was there to take care of them? >> nobody. >> so jonathan and his wife moved back to texas. >> we bought a house so that we could actually move them in with us. >> would they accept help? >> no. he came over, looked at the house and said, "nope. it won't work for us." that was the end of that conversation. >> so what happened? >> they finally got to the point where their health was so, so bad that the state of texas looked in on them, and when they came in and looked at the apartment, that pretty much said it all. >> in august 2010, the state of texas diagnoses

both stouts with dementia and determines the couple is not competent to care for themselves. why didn't they appoint you the guardian at that point? >> they were considering that, but my dad would not have cooperated with myself and my wife. they just would not have done that we had requested to them. >> the state places them in a nursing home and assumes control of all of stout's assets, including hundreds of lunar bibles, which nasa expert robert pearlman says are potentially worth a fortune. what's the market for those right now? >> the auctions have ranged in value, for the apollo 14 bibles, from $30,000 all the way up to $75,000. >> and that's just for one. stout has hundreds. >> if you do the math, that's a lot, a lot of money. >> mary helen stout passes away in 2014. her husband, john, dies two years later, fittingly on the same day

as astronaut john glenn. at the time, the state of texas still has custody of all of stout's lunar bibles. >> i was led to believe that everything that they had would eventually come to me after they both passed away. >> and it didn't? >> and it didn't. >> and it hasn't? >> and it hasn't yet. >> who is the author of of our heir's predicament? >> you're not a family member. why would you be entitled to any of the stouts' property? >> here's another quiz question. the answer when we return.

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>> it's b, yankee stadium. astronaut and yankee fan garrett reisman carried a vial filled with dirt from the pitcher's mound to the international space station. >> reverend john stout made it his mission at nasa to land a bible on the moon. he dies in december 2016. his son, jonathan, is his sole heir. the minister's estate includes hundreds of valuable microfiche bibles, many of which reached the lunar surface aboard nasa's apollo missions. did it ever occur to you it wasn't yours? >> no. no. i was always told at some point those would be reverted over to me, but if carol mersch has her way, i won't get anything. >> carol mersch? that's right, the author we met earlier claims the bibles belong to her,

not jonathan. you're not a family member. why would be entitled to any of the stouts' property? >> that's a subject that is complicated and up for review by the courts now. >> carol's story goes back to 2005, when she was interviewing 14 astronaut edgar mitchell for a book she was writing. she says she noticed this photo in his office showing mitchell shaking hands and handing something to the man on the right. >> and i said, "who is that?" and he said, "well, that's the reverend john stout. i had just landed the first bible on the moon, and i was giving it back to him," and that kind of set me off on a journey to find out more about that man. >> carol also buys a lunar bible for herself from a private dealer for $50,000. >> and i asked the dealer where i could meet john stout, and he said, "well, he's senile, and he doesn't remember any details." >> carol tells me she hires a private detective

and locates the 87-year-old stout in 2009. remember, this is several years after jonathan stout began to see his dad's mind go and just a year before the state of texas diagnosed him with dementia and ruled him incompetent to care for himself. and when you first met him, did he appear senile? >> he was brilliant. >> well, you can be brilliant and senile. >> that's true,but he remembered not only current events but nuances of everything that happened. stout was absolutely thrilled that someone had found them after all these years and was going to write their story. >> carol begins regularly visiting stout, who shows her his priceless space memorabilia. >> he had an entire reel of microfilm bibles that went on apollo 13 and apollo 14 along with a plethora of documentation from nasa.

>> jonathan meets carol at this 2009 lunch and is suspicious. >> you have concerns about carol? >> yeah. i truly don't trust her. i guess 'possessive' would be a good word toward it. >> maybe she cared. >> i don't think so. >> you're saying that her intentions were sinister? >> i'd say more she was selfish, what she could get out of it. i'd put it that way. >> you can imagine how jonathan felt when he finds out that carol is in possession of one of his dad's valuable lunar bibles, which she insists stout gave her as a gift for writing her book. then in november 2010, another shock. carol is set to auction off that lunar bible. >> given the fact that they needed some financial help, i asked if they minded if i auction one of those off and give them the proceeds. and they talked about it and said that would be okay. >> but jonathan isn't buying one bit of it, and the fight begins over his strange inheritance.

>> two hours before the auction, they halted the auction and issued a restraining order. >> what's your "strange inheritance" story? we'd love to tell it. send me an e-mail, or go to our website, strangeinheritance.com. we love our new home. there's so much space. we have a guestroom now. but, we have aunts. you're slouching again, ted. expired, expired... expired. thanks, aunt bonnie. it's a lot of house. i hope you can keep it clean. at least geico makes bundling our home and car insurance easy. which helps us save a lot of money oh, teddy. did you get my friend request? uh, i'll have to check. (doorbell ringing) aunt joni's here! for bundling made easy, go to geico.com. hello?

♪ >> now back to "strange inheritance." >> in dallas in november 2010, a microfiche bible that reverend john stout helped get to the moon is about to be auctioned off by author carol mersch, but stout's only child, jonathan, calls texas authorities, claiming carol is trying to sell his father's property and his future inheritance. >> in my opinion, she's not entitled to anything that my mom or dad have. >> two hours before the bible is set to hit the auction block... >> they halted the auction and issued a restraining order

to halt the sale of the bible and have it returned to a texas court vault immediately. i said, "i assure you these are gifts. i'm donating them to benefit the stouts." >> did you have any documentation with the stouts that you would in fact give them the money? >> yes. i'd exchanged some e-mails with him, and the auction house had that information. >> but the state of texas, acting as legal guardian of reverend stout, isn't swayed. it takes control of that lunar bible and finds out that carol has 13 more in her possession. they confiscate those, too. are they ones that went to space? >> yes. >> ones that went to the moon? >> yes. >> the legal dispute remains in limbo for 4 years. then in 2015, carol tries a new legal tack -- filing suit against reverend stout himself, asserting that she is the legal owner not just of the 14 bibles she says the minister gave her

but of all the lunar bibles. her argument now is that the bibles were never reverend stout's in the first place but rather the property of the apollo prayer league -- which has been inactive for decades -- and the small church under whose auspices it was founded. >> he didn't owne apollo prayer. he was acting director of the apollo prayer league. >> the bibles were his personal property. the apollo prayer league was just a group of people praying for the astronauts. >> in another curious twist, the tiny church assigns all rights to the prayer league's assets to carol. including the bibles. >> including all of the bibles, and they did that just not glibly. i think they became aware that cataloging and investigating and documenting the provenance of these and their history was an onerous task. >> but the state of texas,

on behalf of its ward, rejects carol's claim, saying it has no basis, and the court dismisses her suit. but after reverend stout passes away in 2016 and texas is no longer his custodian, the state returns those 14 lunar bibles to mersch. jonathan could try to recover them, but he isn't. he says he must focus on the several hundred additional ones still tied up in court. doesn't it strike you that this should've been a very simple probate, like, not even in probate? it's just...it's yours. >> yes, i do. we never even came down to even collect the bibles because we were told by the state that carol mersch has filed a lawsuit to prevent me from picking up anything out of my dad's estate. >> that's right because in 2017, carol, walk away with 14 lunar bibles, likely worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, files a motion for a new trial.

the court again denies her claim but keeps the bibles until a higher court rules on her appeal. >> are those bibles yours? >> i believe so. yes. >> you think you're going to win, get those bibles back? >> oh, absolutely. >> from his lips, he hopes, to god's ears. reverend stout's lunar bibles aren't the only microscopic texts to make it to the moon. in 1969, apollo 11 astronauts neil armstrong and buzz aldrin left behind on the lunar surface this tiny silicon disk, about the size of a half dollar, designed to remain intact for thousands of years. etched on the disk, goodwill messages from world leaders, including pope paul vi, queen elizabeth and several u.s. presidents, including one from the late john f. kennedy. we go into space because whatever mankind must undertake, free men must fully share. i'm jamie colby.

thanks so much for watching "strange inheritance." and remember, you can't take it with you. ♪ ♪ >> he leads the most famous charge in american history. >> i am standing right on the site of pickett's charge. >> it cost him hundreds of men, but it made him immortal. >> he leaves his descendants with a suitcase full of heirlooms. >> you want to take a look? >> i really would. >> then a fast-talking con man comes to town... >> he dressed well, he was very glib of tongue. >> ...forcing the general's heir into battle over his strange inheritance. >> what was your reaction? >> i was pissed. it began to dawn on me that i had been really truly ripped off. [ woman vocalizing, theme music plays ] [ wind howls ] [ thunder rumbles ] [ bird caws ] [ folk music plays ]

>> i'm jamie colby, and today i'm in wilmington, north carolina. it's known for its gorgeous beaches and its great surfing, but it was also the last confederate port city to fall during the civil war, so it is fitting that i'm here to meet an heir whose ancestor became famous in defeat at the high-water mark of the confederacy. >> my name is george edward pickett v. i'm the great-great-grandson of general george e. pickett of gettysburg fame. and i never knew exactly what that would bring to my family -- fame, fortune, or dishonor. >> george -- who goes by his middle name, ed -- has invited me to his home. hi, ed. >> hi. you must be jamie. >> i am jamie. how are you today? >> i'm good. >> when the 59-year-old isn't working as a surfing instructor, ed enjoys doing yoga and playing guitar. it's a far cry from his famous great-great-grandfather who

fought at gettysburg. growing up, did your family ever discuss that you had a connection to that battle? >> well, i knew about it. it was discussed briefly. i was not really that interested as a little kid. >> it's easy to understand why. ed's ancestor is best known for being on the losing side of the most pivotal battle in the civil war. >> some people said, "oh, didn't he lose? wasn't he a loser?" because that was the way that a lot of the history books talked about pickett's charge. >> so you don't bury your head like, "oh, i can't believe i came to school today"? >> i remember doing that one time. i didn't know enough to defend him. >> someone who does know a lot about general pickett is civil war historian earl coates. i meet earl right here on the gettysburg battlefield. i am standing right on the site of pickett's charge. >> you certainly are. you're at one of the iconic sites of the civil war. >> what was pickett's contribution?

>> general pickett, till that time, was certainly known as a confederate commander, but after the charge, he was known the world over. >> pickett serves under general james longstreet in july 1863, here at gettysburg, in the army of northern virginia, commanded by general robert e. lee. >> general lee was looking for a great victory on union soil. >> but the federal army holds the high ground. after two days of failing to break through, lee orders a controversial attack, an assault on the center of the union line. general pickett's troops are assigned to break through the middle. [ march plays ] so, earl, right now, we're on the confederate side. >> yes. in fact, you're moving pretty much along the ground that pickett's division came across. you'll see how the ground slopes away here, and then you start up a steady slope up to where the trees are. there were union cannon along

the whole ridgeline. they're high, they're elevated, they can see what's coming, and they can sweep the ground in front of them. >> they had the edge. >> they had it, and they used it. >> pickett's men advance directly into heavy fire. the union guns mow down the rebels. what did the scene look like after? >> well, this field that you're seeing out here was littered with dead. it was just a scene of total devastation. >> earl reads me some firsthand accounts of the bloodshed. >> "on one part of the field, the dead lay almost as thick as they could and men with heads shot off, men shot in two, and men shot to pieces as hardly can be recognizable as any part of a man." >> it's a turning point in the war. never again would the south mount an invasion of union territory. was that the high-water mark? >> that's the high-water mark. from that point on, the fortunes

of the confederacy started to wane. >> just knowing that pickett's charge was a disaster is enough for ed while growing up in north carolina in the 1960s. >> i had other interests that seemed to be more important to me at the time. >> he certainly has no interest in this old suitcase of family heirlooms that his father inherited. when his parents divorce, his dad passes the suitcase along to his mother with instructions to hold onto it for ed. >> ed, this is the actual case? >> it's the actual case. you want to take a look? >> i really would. >> okay. >> as far as young ed could tell, this suitcase only contained some boring, old military-looking knickknacks -- a cap, part of a uniform, some old documents. whatever. >> my mother would kind of say, "there's this legacy you have," you know? "and it's gonna be yours one day." and i would be like, "yeah, okay. sure.

can i go outside and play?" >> whether he appreciates it or not, ed takes possession of the suitcase in the early '90s. it's his by family tradition as the first-born pickett male. after his 70-year-old mother moves into an assisted living facility, she warns her son to remove it from the family home before someone steals it. >> i'd got it out of the closet. i didn't take the time right away to look through it. i kind of opened it and looked at it and went, "oh, okay," and closed it and moved on. >> it winds up tucked away in a closet again, now at ed's house. but he has no time to play curator. >> i spent a lot of time with my own children. and that was more important to me than looking through stuff. >> ed may not take much interest, but certain people in the civil war collecting world do. rumors spread that a metal case full of general pickett artifacts is still in the family's possession in north carolina.

in september 1995, ed gets a call from a guy named russell pritchard in philadelphia. pritchard says he's an antiques appraiser looking for artifacts to buy for a new civil war museum being built in harrisburg, pennsylvania. >> i was a little bit standoffish because i didn't really believe him. >> a few weeks later, a letter arrives. and i had a letter from the mayor of harrisburg. >> saying? >> russ pritchard is the official representative of the national civil war museum in the city of harrisburg. >> did you get a letter from the mayor because you asked for credentials? >> no. >> it just arrived. >> that's exactly right. >> next thing you know, russ pritchard just arrives uninvited in wilmington and, boy, is he persistent. >> russ wanted to be my new best friend. he followed me around like a puppy -- helped me carry drywall to a construction site, he had sat on the beach with my

children while my wife and went surfing. he kept asking, you know, "can i see the artifacts? when can i see them?" >> ed finally agrees to show pritchard what's inside that old family suitcase. the next few hours are a revelation for ed. that old cap is called a kepi, and it was worn by general pickett at gettysburg. there's his blood-stained uniform sleeve, personal letters, photos, his military sash, and this -- pickett's own hand-drawn map of the gettysburg battlefield. >> he was very knowledgeable. he knew what everything was. >> tell me about the reaction on russ pritchard's face. >> he was delighted. it was like he found a gold mine. and he said, "i'm prepared on behalf of the mayor to make you an offer." >> who did you feel he represented? your interest or the museum's interest? >> as i understood it, he was an appraiser standing in the middle.

that's what he said. that he could not over-estimate or underestimate the value of it. >> russ comes up with an offer to buy most of the contents of the case. $87,500. now it's ed who thinks he's struck gold. >> i thought, "wow, $87,500 is a lot of money to me." >> did it look fair? >> seemed fair to me. it was more money than i'd ever gotten in my life. ed happily accepts pritchard's offer and a check, and signs away the items. pritchard immediately departs with the pickett artifacts. but general pickett's great-great grandson is in for the shock of his life, when he finds out what eventually happens to his family heirlooms. >> it was all lies. he just lied to me completely. >> that's next. >> but first, our "strange inheritance" quiz question.

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♪ ♪ for people. ♪ ♪ for the future. ♪ ♪ and there has never been a summer when it's mattered more. wherever you go, summer safely. get 0% apr financing for up to five years on select models and exclusive lease offers. find a stock basedtech. on your interests or what's trending. get real-time insights in your customized view of the market. it's smarter trading technology for smarter trading decisions. fidelity. >> so, how many generals were killed or mortally wounded at gettysburg? it's a -- 9. five confederate, four union. no other battle claimed as many general officers. >> in the fall of 1995, in wilmington, north carolina,

ed pickett, great-great grandson of confederate general george pickett, is thrilled to complete the sale of some of his family heirlooms to antiques appraiser and buyer, russ pritchard. >> the total amount was $87,500, which seemed like an awful lot -- more than i had made in a couple years. >> the items had been in the family for generations. now, the artifacts -- including the general's cap, bloodstained sleeve, and his hand-drawn map of the gettysburg battlefield -- are to be showcased at a new civil war museum in harrisburg, pennsylvania. did you talk to at least one other dealer to kind of get a sense of what you had and what it was worth? >> no, he told me he was working for the city and that his job was to appraise it accurately. >> three years later, in the summer of 1998, ed accepts an invitation to speak at a dinner in gettysburg, hosted by the friends of the national parks.

it's here he's introduced to civil war historian earl coates. >> and i knew he was an expert in clothing. and i asked him, "how much would a kepi be worth?" >> he kind of stunned me. i said, "you mean the general's?" and he said, "yes." whoa. >> and of course at that moment, the room got very silent. he said, "well it could be worth a lot of money." 200, 250 just for the kepi alone. >> $250,000? >> yes, $250,000. i said, you know, "that's more than i got for everything." >> but ed does not want to believe he's been swindled. he considers russ pritchard a friend. you trusted him so much, you let him babysit your infant. >> that's correct. >> earl suggests they find out more. through his connections, he discovers how much the museum paid pritchard for the items. how much did they pay? >> they paid over $800,000.

>> your reaction? >> i was astounded. i realized something was really wrong. >> then another shocker -- he learns pritchard flat-out stole some items, including family photos that he'd kindly offered to restore for ed. >> russ pritchard told me that he'd be glad to frame them for me and send them back, no charge. >> no charge. >> you know, he was just going to do it because he was a nice guy. >> wondering what they could be worth, ed takes them to the highly regarded gettysburg antique store, the horse soldier. the owner takes one look and says... >> "these are not real photographs. these are laser copies." i said, "are you sure?" >> upon closer examination, even ed can clearly see the lines from the laser printer. pritchard had re-framed his photos with fakes. ed's embarrassment over making a bad deal is now replaced with a new emotion -- anger. what was your reaction?

>> i was pissed. it began to dawn on me that i had been really, truly ripped off. >> ed decides it's time to take the fight to the enemy. that's next, on "strange inheritance." >> here's another quiz question. 3,903 confederate solders were killed at gettysburg. the answer in a moment.

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>> so how many confederate soldiers are buried in the national cemetery at gettysburg? it's b -- 7. all soldiers were originally buried on the battlefield, but in november 1863, the national cemetery was

reserved for those who died preserving the union. all confederate killed in action were later reburied in the south, though seven remained by mistake. >> in the fall of 1998, ed pickett is stunned to learn the civil war artifacts he sold to appraiser russ pritchard for $87,000 are later re-sold by pritchard for $880,000. >> i was pissed, because it's not really just me that had been ripped off, but my children. and so that's when i got a lawyer. >> the family heirlooms belonged to his great-great grandfather, confederate general george e. pickett, whose name is synonymous with the failed rebel charge at gettysburg. in 1999, ed heads into battle himself -- this time in the courtroom. a civil jury eventually awards him $800,000 -- the difference between what the museum paid the

con man and the con man paid him. ed is thrilled at first. >> i received a jury verdict against russ pritchard for $800,000, of which i did not receive $800,000 'cause russ pritchard suddenly had empty pockets. i got $250,000 of which my attorney took his cut of the cash. >> how much? >> close to $100,000. >> but the law's not done with russ pritchard yet. as ed's case plays out in court, fbi agent robert wittman is paying very close attention. >> he was very smooth, he dressed well, he was very glib of tongue. >> it turns out, pritchard and his partners had been running the same kind of scam on others who had civil war artifacts. >> usually 10 times was what they were selling material for after they had appraised it for 1/10 of value. >> ed's lawsuit helps wittman and the fbi build a criminal case. >> in the end, there was a

superseding criminal indictment that had more than 20 counts in it. >> faced with a mountain of evidence against him, pritchard strikes a deal in 2001 with prosecutors and pleads guilty. he's sentenced to a year in prison and 830k in restitution fees. half of that sum is awarded to ed pickett, but... >> russ pritchard doesn't seem to have the money. i think i've received a total of maybe $25,000, $30,000. >> are you furious? >> i'm pretty upset. >> look in the camera and tell russ pritchard what you want him to do. >> i would like for russ pritchard to actually pay the restitution. but moreover i would like the national civil war museum to do the right thing and actually return my items to me. the right thing and actually return my items to me. >> so what about that? ed pickett's charge against the museum -- next.

>> now back to "strange inheritance." >> in 2001, ed pickett wins a

second legal battle over his civil war artifacts, passed down from his great-great grandfather, confederate general george pickett. but ed feels it's a hollow victory, as those artifacts go on display at the newly-opened national civil war museum in harrisburg, pennsylvania -- whose mayor wrote pickett a letter endorsing the con man who'd swindled him. >> what's most unfortunate is that the city of harrisburg is quite willing to take items that were taken by fraud and keep them. >> fbi agent robert wittman investigated the case. >> ultimately, the museum paid $880,000 for these artifacts, so they paid what they're supposed to. >> i think a better result would have been the city and the national civil war museum to say, "i am so sorry. let me give you your items back and we are going to sue

russ pritchard for defrauding us." >> current museum c.e.o. wayne motts, who took over in 2012, believes the pickett items are best suited at their current home. >> i think it was regretful and unfortunate what happened to mr. pickett but the pickett collection has been well taken care of here. it has been preserved and it has been exhibited for the joy of thousands of people. >> civil war historian earl coates only hopes that ed pickett takes comfort in knowing that the enormous value placed on his great-great grandfather's things reflects history's verdict on his leadership and courage that july day in gettysburg. >> was pickett thinking along the way, "what have i just done?" >> well he was probably thinking, "what have i been asked to do?" but they were told to go and they went. >> pickett and his men failed. so did their cause. but it's a tribute to their

valor that gettysburg vets from north and south would return to this spot, to do their part to bind up a nation's wounds. so should ed take comfort in knowing that general pickett was a soldier through and through, did as he's told, even if he might have believed it was wrong? >> absolutely. it cost him hundreds of men, but it made him immortal. >> wow. that's cool. >> yeah, there's some interesting stuff in here. >> it's certainly made ed pickett better appreciate the heirlooms that remain in that old suitcase. >> this is a copy of general pickett's report of the battle of williamsburg, may 1862. >> look at the handwriting. >> it's a lost art, i think. >> fabulous. what else? >> and that's george pickett's hair. >> would you ever sell that? >> this right here? no. not anymore. >> this is quite a section of your family history. what are you gonna do with it now?

>> um... i'll probably give it to my children. we don't really get to choose our names when we're born. and we have to do whatever we can or live up to it. i've, to some extent, ducked that legacy, but also honored it in the same way. >> ed is not done fighting the battle over his strange inheritance. for one thing, he thinks there should be a statue right here at gettysburg honoring his great-great grandfather and his men. in other ways, george edward pickett v feels it's time to move on. when his own son was born, he and his wife chose the name doug. perhaps some names just need to rest in peace. i'm jamie colby for "strange inheritance." thanks so much for watching. and remember -- you can't take it with you. >> do you have a

"strange inheritance" story you'd like to share with us? we'd love to hear it! send me an e-mail, or go to our website -- strangeinheritance.com. >> good morning i'm dagen mcdowell in for maria bartiromo monday august 10th your top stories at 6 a.m. eastern. stimulus showdown, president trump taking executive action providing aid for unemployment renters and student loan borrowers. but questions remain about who is paying for it all. this as there could still be a deal worked out between congress and the white house. coronavirus cases topping 5 million in the united states. and there's alarming rise of cases in children. just as schools start reopening, what you need to know about using and taking care of and replacing masks. breaking overnight hong kong businessman