This controversy will be one for the local history books.

And there will probably be two version of the books, one for each version of the truth.

It’s a story so out of place in a small-town historical society that it might be laughable if it were not so acrimonious. It involves lawyers, a lawsuit and already prickly relationships gone downright nasty.

Different attorneys tell different stories, but this much is true:

On May 16, the Le Sueur County Historical Society moved to re-organize the Elysian chapter with a bevy of allegations that include failing to submit financial reports to engaging in “ghost hunting” and other paranormal investigation unbecoming to a historical society.

But the Elysian chapter would not be dissolved. Its leadership believed the county historical society doesn’t have the authority to disband it.

Instead, those leaders resigned from the countywide group and renamed their local chapter the Elysian Area Historical Museum. It claims to be the legitimate entity and ownership of the 1895 schoolhouse-turned-museum. It is listed as a nonprofit corporation in good standing with the Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office with an original filing date of Jan. 26, 1990 — the date of what now appears to be a poorly executed restructuring effort.

In response, the countywide historical society elected its own four-person board of directors for a new Elysian chapter. The county group continues to occupy the genealogical center but doesn’t venture into the museum, a stone’s throw away.

On Friday the Le Sueur County Historical Society filed a civil lawsuit in Le Sueur County District Court seeking the expulsion of the Elysian Area Historical Museum from the museum.

The plaintiffs have what appears to be a solid claim to ownership: a 1966 deed that describe the museum’s sale to the Le Sueur County Historical Society from the school district for $1.

Despite that document, the Elysian Area Historical Museum holds the keys to the museum as well as the chapter’s bank accounts and its post office box key. The museum is open to the public, though at least two visitors from the opposing camp were asked to leave.

There are now two historical societies in Elysian, a town of about 540 residents.

The museum-controlling Elysian Area Historical Museum is led by Patricia Nusbaum, Elysian’s city administrator and a woman who provokes strong feelings in her opponents.

Nusbaum declined interview requests and referred comment to her lawyer, Dan Hoehn, who says the dispute is more about clashing personalities than what’s best for historical preservation.

The county-sanctioned chapter is led by Jason Coon, also a city councilman.