Lancaster's Sherman House Museum buys Gen. William Sherman's Civil War sword at auction

A sword used by Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman during the Civil War was bought at auction for several times the asking price by the Sherman House Museum on Tuesday.

Fleischer's Auctions of Columbus offered the sword − part of a large collection of items belonging to Sherman − for $40,000 to $60,000 and Sherman House Museum purchased it for $157,950, according to Adam Fleischer, president of the auction house.

"It's something we didn't think we'd be able to do," said Michael Johnson, director of Sherman House Museum. "We had 60 donors from all around the world, as far away as Australia, who put us into play. It's an amazing sight."

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Johnson said the museum has numerous items that belonged to Sherman and his family, from furniture he used in his New York home after retiring to a cigar holder cherished by his granddaughter. "But we have nothing of this caliber," he said.

The remaining lots of the Sherman collection were up for auction for $100,000 to $200,000 and were bought for $600,000, Fleischer said.

bpaschal@dispatch.com

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Lancaster's Sherman House Museum buys Gen. William Sherman's Civil War sword at auction