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 web site. attic. >> from dusty boxes forgotten in the attic emerged military artifacts handed down across five generations. >> the writing is unbelievable. i can't believe it's in such good shape. >> an heirloom that may be a long lost piece of history. >> i think this is a once in a lifetime find. i'd never seen one before. i don't expect to see one again. >> the value is rising with literally every fold. >> a war, a map, a mystery. >> i had a little momentary roller coaster there. >> will it lead to one family's hidden treasure?

>> i'm jamie colby. today i'm in birmingham, alabama, which is rolling foothills of the appalachians. they say that wars are fought to change maps and this episode of "strange inheritance" is about a map, a very old map and one that survives in a family whose history spans from texas to virginia and then back here to alabam alabama. >> my name is patrick martin. my parents died in 1999 and my sister and i inherited the house and contents. we were surprised when we figured out what it contained. >> the house patrick and his sister peggy inherited in birmingham is now their home. patrick, thank you so much for having me over. >> it's our pleasure. >> patrick's parents moved to alabama from maryland and bought the house in the 1960s.

patrick, an architect, returns to take care of his ill parents in 1994, but then has his own health scare. >> i had a quintuple bypass. >> that leads to an early retirement at age 47. with lots of time on his hands he starts rummaging through the house, including the attic. it's here he comes across a box he remembers from his childhood. >> this looks very, very old right from the start. the box contains family letters and legal documents, some going back to the 18th censure. >> i this packet is letters from the 1780s. >> he also discovers a u.s. muster buck, an official ledger keeping track of soldiers and their pay. the writing is unbelievable. >> this book is put into two sections. the war of 1812 and the mexican war. >> patrick's family has a long

history of military service. in 1846, his great great grandfather nicholas martin leads a virginia battalion in the mexican american war, one of the most controversial in hus history. >> although the war is a very little known among americans, it's the most important war fought between two neighbors in the western hemisphere in 1845 texas is annexed by the united states. but the texas boundary claim now becomes an american problem. >> and, it turns out, an opportunity for president james k polk, a slave holding democrat who believes god has ordain it had united states to spread across the continent. many opponents say this is man necessary destiny, including a fresh face freshman congressman from illinois. >> abraham lincoln is an opponent of this war. he gives a series of speeches blasting the polk administration. >> the war, the first in history

documented with photographs, breaks out in april, 1846 mexico surrenders in 1848, losing half its national domain. >> the united states acquires not just the american southwest but also california. >> left unresolved, where slavery will be allowed in those territories. >> the debate over whether those territories are going to be slave or free is going to be so contentious and so divisive that it's ultimately going to lead to the civil war in 1861. >> patrick's box contains a number of civil war items, too. cool stuff like certificates from the confederate postal service. he can't be sure how all those items came to his family. some most likely are from that great-great grandfather who fought in mexico. >> the other possibility is his son hudson who was a lawyer and

he represented soldiers. >> the artifacts are passed down through the generations, ultimately making their way to the family estate in virginia. when patrick's grandfather dies in 1956 and the family is clearing out the house, his father winds up with the historical items by chance. >> on a whim he just said we'll take those six boxes. >> the boxes end up in the basement of patrick's childhood home outside washington, d.c. they become a way to kill boredom from a curious 12-year-old boy. patrick, did you really play with this stuff as a kid? >> i did. i did. i loved the boxes. you would find letters from the civil war talking about troop movements or political discussions just before lincoln's election. you felt a connection to family and a fun connection to history. >> your imagination could run wild. >> absolutely. >> one of his favorite items? an old map of texas.

>> it was a fun toy. i just enjoyed the fact that texas was so different. it had indian villages it had forts, it had all kinds of interesting things for a 10 or 12-year-old. >> somehow the map avoids being used to make a fort or a halloween mask. >> i showed it to my parents and they knew i was playing with it and that was fine because it was just the old texas map. >> as patrick grows up, the map and the other items in the boxes become distant childhood memories. in 1967, his parents moved to birmingham where the boxes are stored and forgotten once again. that is until patrick moves here to take care of his folks and rediscovered them. his parents pass away in 1999 within ten days of each other. the family home and those time worn boxes are now patrick and his sister peggy's inheritance.

proud of his family heritage, he shows off the heirlooms during dinner parties. >> i'm crazy about history and this was a resource that i wanted to share with people. >> he brings them out to the thanksgiving table. so this thing giving dinner literally between the gravy bowl and the turkey you bring the map out and put it on the table? there table? >> that's true. it was the end of dinner so it was mostly messy plates and that probably made it worse sfrs danger to the map. at the time, its value was the joy it would give you looking at the thing. >> but by 2013, patrick wonders if he might reap another kind of joy from his strange inheritance. to be blunt, he could use the money. since retiring at age 47, patrick has accumulated substantial credit card debt, not to mention a home equity loan he and his sister peggy took out.

>> the credit card debt is monumental. we have a small home equity loan that this potentially could pay of off. >> patrick notices an auction house is holding an appraisal fair in birmingham. >> i thought i'll throw a box of stuff together and see if anything is worth anything. >> at the fair, patrick cautiously breaks out the old family war stuff. did you feel like one would be worth more than the others? >> i thought the muster book was going to be of more significant monetary value. as it turned out, he says he thinks the muster book would be a couple thousand dollars and i thought, well that's nice. but it's not life changing. >> patrick shows a few more heirlooms and gets the same tepid response. down to his final item. he unfolds his plaything, that old texas map. what happened when you pulled the map out.

>> you could tell his demeanor changed. his face lit up. he was very excited? >> what's your heart doing? >> it's beating very well. >> what had been sitting in the attic all this time? >> i had never seen one before and i don't expect to see one again. >> that's next. >> but first, our strain inheritance quiz question. which warsaw the most combat veterans go on to become u.s. president? is it the revolutionary war, the mexican american war, the civil war, or world war two? the answer when we return. lilly. she pretty much lives in her favorite princess dress. but once a week i let her play sheriff so i can wash it. i use tide to get out those week old stains and downy to get it fresh and soft. you are free to go. tide and downy together.

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>> which war sea most come about what the vet ans go on, so which warsaw the most combat veterans go on to become u.s. president? it's, c, the civil war. five future presidents -- grant, hayes, garfield, harrison and mckinley saw combat during the civil war. in birmingham, alabama, in may, 2013, patrick martin visits a traveling appraisal fair hoping some of his family's old military artifacts can pay off his growing debts. it's not going well. that is until he pulls out an old map of texas for heritage auctions appraiser joe fay. >> i had seen this map before, but i had only seen reprints of it. >> yes instantly recognizes the print as the work of jacob d.

cordova, who commissioned the first maps in 1849 after the u.s. won the mexican-american war. decor d decordova used the map as a tool to lure immigrants into the state. >> he wanted a document that showed them the vastness of the land that was available for them to settle. >> decordova obtained signature endorsements from famous texans including sam houston to further his cause. >> sam houston on the floor of the u.s. senate referred to this as the most accurate depiction of texas that anyone had ever compiled? >> with patrick's copy, joe is excited but skeptical. he knows such a famous map has countless reprints and forgeries. >> i noticed the paper was right, consistent with the period but it could still be a reprint. >> fortunately for joe, decordova himself left a vital

clue. >> there's a printed notice that basically says "without my signature this map is fraudulently obtained." >> patrick's map includes a signature that appears to match decordova's but is it hand signed or printed? another clue. >> i could see the ink bleeding through to the back of the map. that only happens if it's authentically signed with ink. once i saw this nothing else mattered that weekend. >> the map is no doubt the find of the appraisal fair. >> he said "we had this auction last year and the second edition sold for $44,000." >> a first edition from 1849 would be worth even more. only a few are known to still exist. joe suspects that patrick's map could be a first edition. geography will tell the tale. >> there are several features of this map that wouldn't be recognizable to somebody looking at the state of texas today. >> you see, the republic of

texas once stretched as far north as wyoming and as far west as santa fe. over the years, those boundaries are chipped away. the biggest land transfer comes in 1850 when texas gives up vast tracts of western land to the federal government in exchange for debt relief. come to think of it, that's the same outcome patrick's aiming for. the end result, the texas shape we know today. so what version of texas did patrick's map show? >> just north of the state line of texas is an area referred to on the map as indian territory which we know today as oklahoma. there's a strip on the left side of the map that's santa fe territory. so at that point, that was that eureka moment of this is actually an 1849 decordova map. >> joe ups his initial appraisal. >> he said yours is a first edition therefore we think it would be $60,000 to $80,000.

so i called my sister and decided to sell the map. >> joe tells patrick the value could go up or down depending on the map's condition and previous sales. he wants to hold on to the heirloom for more research. joe gets on a plane to dallas to show the map to sandra palamino, who specializes in texana artifacts. all she needs is one look. what kind of condition was the map in when you got it? that's next on "strange inheritance." >> here's another quiz question. what role did future army general and u.s. president ulysses s. grant play in the mexican-american war? was it quarter master? sniper? or medic? the answer when we return. are you still getting heartburn flare-ups? time for a new routine.

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>> so what role did grant p so what role did future army general and u.s. president ulysses s. grant play in the mexican-american war? the answer is, a, quartermaster. grant was in charge of ulyssess. grant play? the answer is a, quarter master. >> in birmingham, alabama, patrick martin is eagerly awaiting the strangest appraisal of his inheritance. a map of the new state of texas. the value is $80,000. if he's right, that go a long way to wiping out the debt patrick has run up since retiring after quintuple bypass surgery. >> although the map meant a lot to me wheb you put a dollar value on it that can change your financial base, you're thinking, i can get rid of this debt. but you don't want to buy into it yet. >> after all, patrick knows his map hasn't exactly been treated like a museum exhibit and its

condition can have a major impact on its sale price. that's why jose brings the map to dl as, to get a second opinion. that's why dallas is my next stop as well. >> what kind of condition was the map in when you got it in. >> it was in wonderful condition. just amazing to us that there were no separations along any of the folds. condition is everything. and value is just rising with literally every fold that we're opening. >> did you know that an expert in maps and documents and other historical artifacts that it existed? >> this particular map is newly discovered because it was on nobody's radar. >> how big is the market for maps? >> for collectors in general, they love that period from 1834, 1835, up through the late 1850s. >> that's because so many families traced their texan roots back to the immigration boom of that period.

>> texans are very, very prideful of their roots, and they see it as almost a responsibility to preserve the history and pass it on. >> and many of those early texans were influenced by decordova and his map. >> it is a treasured piece of history and that's what this map is to texana collectors. >> a few days later, patrick received a call. >> joe fay called and said, i missed the estimate on the map. so i think they overpriced it. >> instead, it could be more than $80,000, a lot more. six figures easy. >> so right away, i'm ecstatic. >> on march 15, 2014, patrick martin's first edition map of texas goes up on the auction

block. patrick monitors the auction from his home in birmingham. things are not off to a smooth start. >> the auction was going slow generally. things weren't reaching their auction estimate. so as my map came up, i was trepidation. >> it appears only two bidders will be competing for it. the amount slowly creeps higher from 75 to 85 grand, then to 97,000. patrick knows he should be ecstatic, but you know o how it goes, when you're told it's six figures, it is six figures you want. >> this time it stopped long enough for the auctioneer to say, fair warning. so i thought, it's go going at 97. >> is he right? that's next on "strange inheritance." no chest-beating monologues about engine size, horsepower, or performance.

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>> after being passed down through five generations of

patrick martin's family, a rare first edition map from the early days of texas statehood goes on the auction dallas on march 2014. the bidders push the price up from 75,000 to 85. a lot of money. but patrick was led to believe the strange inheritance would go for more than that. the bidding jumped to $97,000 then stalls again. >> i had a moment of let down, and then again a let down. >> what seems to be ages, bidding picks up again. then passes the $100,000 mark and keeps climbing. final sale price, including premium the buyer pays to the auctioneer, a whopping $149,000. >> after paying seller fees, patrick and his sister take home $96,000. 48 grand each. they can finally get rid of all

their debt. every penny of it. >> immediately, within a day, we had paid off the home equity loan and credit card loans. so it was great. >> it is admirable that you paid off debt with the map that got more than you expected. but come on, patrick, you must have splurged a little on you and your sister, peggy. >> well, he have a little left to splurge but we're waiting to see what the splurge would be. >> a map ends up in the hand of a distant ancestor. makes its way from at totic to attic and moving van. so at dinner show and tell, the martin family treasure, had a force no to pog ra fer could

happen out. >> any regrets? >> none. i had a problem selling the map, even though i enjoyed it and shared it, but in way, you're sharing it again. >> and what about the other precious family heirlooms? >> could there be more treasures in the attic? >> hopefully. i could only hope it would be adds good as the map. >> jacob decorva was one of the most colorful promotors of texas and he put his money where his mouth was. he, himself, bought up a million acres of land to sell to settlers. during civil war, in fact many texans lost everything and were unable to pay off their lease. although decordova stood to lose a fortune, he refused to forclose. saying, after all, he was the one who encouraged them to move tom in the first place. >> i'm jamie colby for "strange

inheritance", and remember, you can't take it with you. do you have a strange inheritance story you would like to share with us? e-mail us. or go to our website, strangeinheritance.com. hello and welcome to justice, i'm just jeanine pirro. why are we sleeping with the enemy? writing them love letters. dining with them in swiss palaces while they chant "death to america", while they dance with the devil as the main sponsor of terrorism and death around the world. why are we so desperate to put a ring on iran's finger? and engage them on the nuclear issue? all the while, spurning our one loyal and true ally, israel. why, mr. president? so young iranias