By their very nature, historical studies never quite arrive at a complete resolution. Details demand further exploration, misconceptions call for correction, and cherished biases eventually cry out for reassessment. Less frequently, the entire endeavor receives a boost when an overlooked cache of new archival materials surfaces. Such is the case with an extremely rare set of leather folders that yielded the lifework of one relatively anonymous Virginian builder, Thomas R. Blackburn (1795–1867)...