Everyone's heard sayings like these--most of us understand them as figurative parts of speech. Here's the story of a man who took these ideas quite literally--and then did his best to disprove them. He was able to "afford living in the past"...because the past came at a bargain price.

The past is gone...and it's missing, too!

In November, 1997, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania (HSP), a museum in Philadelphia, began computerizing its 12,000-piece artifact collection. Founded in 1824, the HSP is known for its collection of military-edged weapons and firearms from the Revolutionary and Civil War eras.

Almost immediately, staff members discovered artifacts missing--three presentation swords and one Lancaster County long rifle. The swords had been presented by the citizens of Philadelphia to Civil War General George G. Meade, David Bell Birney, and Andrew A. Humphreys. The rifle dated back to 1785 and was handcrafted by one of Pennsylvania's finest gunsmiths. Total value of the four pieces? $750,000.

Assuming the artifacts had been stolen, HSP staff members contacted the FBI. Under the auspices of the 1994 Theft of Major Art Work statute (18 U.S.C. 668), the Bureau initiated an investigation.

Searching for the past

Since there was a very good possibility that the thief or thieves would be collectors of historical artifacts or memorabilia, the Agent, an art theft specialist, knew a good place to begin would be a noted Civil War artifact exhibition.

As luck would have it, one of the largest Civil War weapons shows on the East Coast, the Great Southern Weapons Fair, was being held in Richmond, Virginia. Two Special Agents (SAs) traveled to the exhibition and began interviewing participants.

Deeper into the past

A break came when the Agents talked to Bruce Bazelon, an expert on presentation swords. Mr. Bazelon didn't have any specific information on the location of the stolen artifacts, but he did remember hearing about a Poconos flea market dealer who, back in 1994, had been shown a picture of about 10 swords being offered for sale by a possible dealer.

According to what Bazelon heard, one of the swords was a presentation sword that had been given to Civil War General George A. McCall. As a presentation sword expert, Bazelon knew from his research that this sword had been a part of the HSP collection.

With the information from Bazelon, one of the Agents contacted the Poconos flea market dealer about the identity of the person who tried to sell him the swords. The dealer told him it was George Csizmazia, an electrical contractor from Rutledge, Pennsylvania, who was also a history buff.

On December 23, 1997, the FBI Agents caught up with Csizmazia, an electrical contractor, at his place of business and questioned him about the missing swords. At first, Csizmazia denied any knowledge of the missing swords, but then finally admitted he did, indeed, have the swords in his "collection." And he took the SAs to his home.

Uncovering the past

There, at Csizmazia's home in a second floor bedroom, the SAs found not only the missing swords, but more than 200 other historic artifacts, all stolen from HSP. Among the treasures found was a ring containing a lock of George Washington's hair; the telescope used by Elisha Kent Kane to locate the Polar Sea, other presentation swords, rifles and handguns, medals from various United States wars, silver trophies belonging to the actor Edward Forrest, eyeglasses and cigar holders. Each item had a place in the history of Pennsylvania. The investigation determined that Csizmazia used a sword from the 1600s to trim his hedges.

Also discovered in Csizmazia's home was a silver snuff box that had been given to Andrew Hamilton by New York officials in 1735 as payment for his successful defense of John Peter Zenger, a New York printer and editor charged with libeling the Colonial governor of New York. This landmark case helped establish freedom of the press as an endowed right in the New Republic.

The final connection

Csizmazia admitted buying the historic artifacts from Earnest Medford, a long-time HSP janitor. The two had first met 10 years earlier when Csizmazia, who was doing some electrical work for the HSP at the time, began talking with Medford about his interest in military antiques. Csizmazia had been receiving artifacts stolen by Medford from the Society ever since.

When the investigators interviewed Medford the next day, December 24th, he admitted stealing the historical pieces and selling them to Csizmazia for approximately $8,000 over the 10-year period. (Medford probably hadn't realized he was being vastly underpaid for his services. The total value of Csizmazia's collection was between two and three million dollars!)

From the past...to the future

Both Csizmazia and Medford were charged with violations of Title 18, USC, Sections 668 and 371-theft of culturally significant historic artifacts. Both have been convicted and are serving four-year prison sentences.