Frank Fletcher, who tracked down the Wade Hampton silver and made it his mission to get it back to SC; Kay Durham, silver expert; John Sherrer, Columbia Foundation director of collections; Dr. Rodger Stroup, executive director of the SC Department of Archives and History; and Walker Clarke, president of the SC Archives and History Foundation.

Over the years, silver expert Kay Durham has been handed some fine silver from centuries past for identification and appraisal purposes. Recently she has had in her hands pieces that once belonged to one of Columbia's most venerable icons.

Wade Hampton's silver made its way westward, with a lengthy stay-over in California. A Hampton descendant living abroad is now willing to part with the pieces in order to fund a mission project that hit close to home.

"Its significance to Columbia and its history makes this the most exciting silver I have ever been asked to consult on," said Durham, whose usual clients may be insurance companies, collectors, or museums.

Earlier this year Durham was approached by Walker Clarke, president of the South Carolina Archives and History Foundation. The retired cotton broker wanted to know if Durham would be willing to formulate impressions about a cach of silver the Foundation had been offered an opportunity to purchase.

A Litchfield Beach businessman learned of the silver's existence while traveling with his late wife to the Fiji Islands. Frank Fletcher approached Clarke in hopes the foundation could facilitate the purchase and return of the silver to its home state.

"I had heard rumors several years ago this silver existed, but I pooh-poohed the idea," said Durham who helped found South Carolina's Silver Society for people with shared interests in the precious metal.

Durham became cautiously optimistic when she saw pictures of the silver and its various markings. Then the Hampton descendant agreed to ship the entire collection to Columbia so it could be more closely scrutinized by Durham and the Foundation board. At its spring meeting, the board voted to back the purchase of the silver and has begun devising a campaign strategy to raise funds necessary to keep the silver at home permanently.

Durham's loop, the optical tool that enhances her look for evidence, has gotten quite a work out during recent months. Her knowledge of American and European silversmiths, their assayer marks, and smithing histories led her to conclude which members of the Hampton family may have owned which pieces, and when. The mystery continues to unravel.

Some serving pieces bear the monogram WH. There are other pieces monogrammed MSMcD, for Mary Singleton McDuffy, Wade Hampton III's second wife. Some are older than others, so the descendant who inherited them had pieces representative of multiple generations of Hamptons. The silver primarily represents the period after the Revolutionary War up to the eve of the Civil War.

How the pieces were used was easier to discover. "From the tall ewer, they would have poured wine or other beverages," Durham said. "There are cream and sugar serving pieces, and sauce boats, along with coin silver knives smithed in one piece, as well as other tableware, such as a sweetmeat dish, and dessert or coffee spoons.

The South Carolina Silver Society voted this week to host a symposium next fall to raise funds to help with the purchase of the Wade Hampton silver so it can remain in Columbia for posterity.