BOWLING GREEN, Ohio, Feb. 23 (UPI) -- Two descendents of an Ohio man awarded the Medal of Honor for his bravery during the Civil War have agreed to a temporary custody arrangement for his medals.
The dispute involves two medals given Sgt. Wilson W. Brown for his part in Andrews' Raid in Georgia in April 1862 and the key he used to escape from a Confederate prison immediately after the raid, the Toledo Blade reported. Brown, a member of the 21st Ohio Infantry, was one of the first soldiers to receive a Congressional Medal of Honor and got a second one after a 1904 redesign.
Linda Schwartz, a great-great-granddaughter, and Albert Ward, a great-grandson, both say they should be the custodians of the medals and key. Under an agreement reached Wednesday, Schwartz is to have the heirlooms placed in a glass case to be kept by her lawyer while the legal battle continues.
Schwartz acquired the medals and key when her father died in 2005. Ward filed a lawsuit last month on behalf of other Brown descendents, saying Schwartz had refused to produce them for "family reunions, historical convocations, and other events honoring the memory and valor of Wilson W. Brown."
Ward says most of his extended family believe the heirlooms should be in a museum. Under the agreement, they are also to be taken to Georgia for events marking the 150th anniversary of the raid.
