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Captain Sally’s coat misses making top 10 list

Captain Sally’s coat didn’t make it.

The Confederate gray coat with black braid and black buttons, worn by Capt. Sally Tompkins during the Civil War, was one of 25 nominees in summer online voting for Virginia’s most endangered artifacts.

But after the votes were counted, the coat, owned by the Mathews County Historical Society, did not make this year’s top 10 list compiled by the Virginia Association of Museums.

Tompkins, a native of Mathews County, operated Robertson’s Hospital in Richmond during the Civil War. She was commissioned a captain in the Confederate cavalry by Jefferson Davis as a means of keeping her private facility, which had a high success rate, open.

The coat has moth holes and is frayed on the edges, said historical society archivist Reed Lawson. It is on display at Tompkins Cottage in Mathews Court House when the cottage is open from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays.

The top 10 endangered artifacts, according to results released Tuesday, a...

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