Residents, visitors and online fans have until Sunday to vote to add Capt. Sally Tompkins’ coat to the Virginia Association of Museums’ Top 10 Endangered Artifacts’ list for 2015. The artifact, which was submitted by the Mathews County Historical Society, had received nearly 400 votes by the end of last week.

According to Christina Newton, assistant director of VAM, the public is invited to vote for their favorite endangered Virginia artifact and may also donate toward its conservation. Voting began Aug. 1.

Visitors to the survey can scroll through the choices to see photos and a description of each item on the site.

According to VAM, Sally Louisa Tompkins (1833-1916) grew up at Poplar Grove in Mathews, and moved to Norfolk after the property was sold around 1848-49. In 1861 at the start of the Civil War, Tompkins opened the Robertson Hospital in Richmond to care for the wounded. She was commissioned a captain in the Confederate cavalry in 1861 by Jefferson Davis.
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