Former Harrisburg Mayor Stephen R. Reed took lots of political fire for turning his personal passion for collecting Wild West artifacts into a city-funded venture.
But that didn’t matter to collectors, as Reed’s personal gun collection helped fire up prices as more of the late mayor’s vast estate was auctioned over the weekend, bringing in “well over $100,000″ total, the auction company said.
“Most of the top lots were firearms,” said Melanie Hartman, a certified appraiser with Cordier Auctions, which conducted the sale that attracted 1,300 bidders.
“It was a busy weekend for us,” she said.
Among the 800 items up for bid, Hartman mentioned an engraved first-generation Colt single-action revolver that fetched $2,500 during the live auction.
But it was an 1872 officer’s sword inscribed “Harrington” that topped even the Colt, bringing in a $3,000 bid, Hartman added.
Other items that were gaveled off at good prices during the two-day live sale included:
- A Remington Rand Model 1911 A1 Pistol for $2,000.
- An American Buffalo Shoulder Mount for $950.
- A lot of 12 19th century Arizona newspapers for $800.
- A Winchester Model 1984 Carbine for $800.
- A political cartoon by John Childs entitled “The Political Drill of the State Officers” for $650.
- And a 1726 funeral sermon for Thomas Symmes for $700.
U.S. Springfield Trapdoor Carbine, with an estimated value of $600-700, and a Winchster M 1894 Carbine, estimated value $500-600. Part of a collection from former Harrisburg mayor Stephen Reed's estate, auctioned by Cordier Auctions.
The auction featured a large number of items from the American Old West era, of which Reed was an “insatiable collector,” the auction company noted. Other highlights were a reward broadside for famed outlaw Billy the Kid, a portrait painting of General George Custer, a cabinet card photograph of Crow Foot, son of Sioux chief Sitting Bull, and other antique firearms.
The latest series of sales, which wrapped up Saturday, were the second series of auctions to sell off all the items the 28-year “mayor for life” had amassed in his personal collection.
Previous sales in the fall of 2020 sold off nearly 2,100 collectables to the tune of “more than $100,000″ total.
And there still may be more items yet to be offered in the Reed estate, Hartman said.
“I have about 125 lots of items that have not yet been offered,” she said. “There’s no shortage of material here. But if there is anything else, I cannot confirm that. I wasn’t aware of these items (just auctioned) until a few months ago. Reed seems to be the gift that keeps on giving.”
All the items sold at the Reed auctions were said to be separate from the thousands of items Reed purchased using public money while he was mayor.
At one point at the height of his spending as mayor in the early 2000s, Reed envisioned using tens of millions of dollars in city-bought artifacts for use in five planned museums in Harrisburg.
First, the mayor amassed a $17 million trove of Civil War artifacts, including Abe Lincoln’s hatbox — but, alas, not the president’s signature stove-pipe topper – to open dubbed the National Civil War Museum in early 2001 to great fanfare.
But his planned National Museum of the Old West was a political misfire, ultimately leading to his ousting from office.
By the time the Patriot-News uncovered the breadth of the mayor’s spending on Wild West artifacts in July 2003, Reed had paid out $4.8 million for artifacts for the never-built National Museum of the Old West.
A public backlash forced Reed put his Wild West museum plans on hold in early 2004. He scrapped the idea altogether in fall 2006, reluctantly agreeing to begin selling off the 10,000-item Western collection.
But the political damage was done. Then-City Council President Linda Thompson won a shocking upset over Reed in the Democrat primary in May, 2009, ending his era after seven terms.
Reed then faced legal troubles over the artifacts in June 2015, when investigators with the state Attorney General’s office raided Reed’s Cumberland Street rowhome. The officers hauled away saddles, a totem pole, what looked like a stuffed fox, a whiskey barrel and assorted other artifacts.
In the end, Reed received a sentence of two-years’ probation for his 2017 guilty pleas on 20 counts of theft by receiving, all related to city-owned artifacts found in the former mayor’s home.
Reed, a Kennedy-era Democrat, died on Jan. 25, 2020 at age 70, leaving behind a complex, controversial legacy -- and lasting imprint -- on the city he loved.