Dear List Members, I am seeking help locating and copying a will and estate record for my great-grandfather who died in Abbeville. I know the will and estate settlement is recorded there, so what is the best way to go about getting a copy mailed to me? Should I write to Probate Clerk for a copy, or is there someone who could help me obtain a copy of his will and estate settlement records from the courthouse? Robert

I have been in many, many courthouses through the years during my research. Of all of these, the Henry County, Alabama Courthouse has the BEST organized, the MOST WELL preserved records, the FRIENDLIEST, most HELPFUL staff, and a fine CONTINUOUS PRESERVATION program in tact. The Probate Judge's office DOES NOT allow copies to be made. So, Henry County records must be transcribed in person or one must have another to do this for them. The reason is for the preservation of these olden records. When copies are made, the record books must be opened up flat, not what the printer intended as it is just TOO flat. I spent 10 years in the book printing and binding industry and know this to be a proven fact. This causes the spine of the books to crack and break apart thus allowing pages to come loose and fall from the record book even with smyth sewing. For the preservation of these important documents that go back fully to 1821, this is a GOOD rule, as I see it being a historic preservationist as well as a "wanna be" genealogist. It saves the records for the next person, not to mention the next generations—plural. The county spends a lot of money for the upkeep of the records. The past Judge of Probate Lamar Turner spent $25,000 in his second term alone to have books rebound and protected. This in a very small, rural non-industrial county—less than 17,000 people countywide. It is a very expensive process added to the fact that this particular type of binding is very specialized and the printing facilities are few and far between. If you ever have a chance to visit, you will experience for yourself how easy it is to find records and find them in tip-top condition!! Just bring a couple or three pens and a legal pad. Your extra effort will be for the good of historic preservation of our original, priceless, and irreplaceable records. INTERESTING INFORMATION ABOUT EARLY RECORDS: Sadly, because of this rule, some researchers of lower character have gone around the rules and actually torn pages out of these precious document books and one complete ten pound Orphans Court Record book from the 1850s has been stolen. This has prompted strict rules for entering the vault. ..A) PRE-1830 RECORDS: In November, while working in Deed Book A-B, there were two sheets (four pages) torn out in the early 1820s. This book contains ALL the records of the early period (1822-1840) though it is labeled a "deed book". It would be interesting to know where the records for 1820-1822 might be, if they exist. These were recorded in Old Richmond deep in the “piney woods” in the homes of the county’s first officials and in the original log courthouse. Then the original records were hauled cross county to Columbia in 1826 and again 21 long miles to Abbeville in 1833. And, with each construction of a new courthouse, these were stored somewhere. In 1966, the priceless collection of old newspapers in the probate vault were saved by the county clerk who spared their destruction by hauling them in the trunk of his car until the present courthouse was completed. Legend has it that the original treasury was found in the stump of a huge tree taken down years later at Richmond—a large sugar bowl—believe it or not! I suppose by 1822, the record keeping had become better. In the pre-1830 period, I found 33% of all transactions to be slave related, several sales of cattle and horses, "sorrel" (red) horses being the favorite, about four wills, and smaller transactions. There were five or less land deeds. Land was being bought and sold all over the vast new county but the deeds were not recorded, just passed between pioneer to pioneer. Some of these original deeds, land warrants, and grants have been recorded 100 plus years later to prove clear title after being found in an old trunk. Such is historical research ANYWHERE you go, not just Henry County! After all, they didn’t have “Blackberries” and computers to record and register every detail on one’s business life. HOWEVER, the first stop of a researcher should be in Deed Book A-B!!! Many deeds were actually recorded, plus you never know what other “nugget” you may find. …B) ABOUT DEED BOOK A-B: Deed Book A-B was created in 1858 when the county commission entrusted Jefferson S. Koonce to transcribe three (3) of the earliest record books into one. He began in May 1858 and ended in November 1858 and did a good job as far as penmanship and organization is concerned. There is no way for us to proof his work, though I rest assured this was done. So when looking for records in the period 1822-1840, always check in Deed Book A-B—it even includes the “unholy dispute” in the Columbia Baptist Church in 1836 when the “Regular Baptists” across America were splitting into “Missionary” and “Primitive” Baptists, beginning in Alabama in 1805 in Huntsville. This is written in the front of Deed Book A-B: “This book has been copied from the old original records of the office of the Probate Court, dating from 1822-1840. Commenced transcribing May 25, 1858 and completed November 1, 1858. This book contains the contents of three of these old deed record books—the first book reaches to the twenty-eighth page; the second book to page 230; and the third to page 416. It was done in compliance with an order of the Commissioners Court of May 4, 1858. Jefferson S. Koonce, Transcriber” Land was being bought and sold in the heavily, thickly settled areas of the county in the period, those being the "upper tier" from the Chattahoochee River west to Lawrenceville all north of Abbeville. Then about a four mile, or less, strip down the river to Open Pond (later Woodville and lastly Gordon named for Indian fighter Gen. Alexander C. Gordon of Abbeville living on his estate--"Aberdeen"). The great bulk of the county south of Abbeville and west of the river plantations all the way to the Florida line were the sparsely populated "piney woods". At the beginning of the War for Southern Independence in 1861, there was not even a post office south of Abbeville, except for the two river ports of Columbia and Open Pond. Headland and Dothan received post offices in 1871 but population was still spotty. After 1880, the turpentine and naval store industries blazed a mighty swath through the "Yeller" Long Leaf Pine forests of virgin timber. It populated what is now South Henry and all of Houston County to the Florida line. By 1900, the towns of Halesburg, Newville, Ashford, and Cottonwood, to name a few, had sprung up. By 1903, just 20 years later, the population of the southern portion of Old Henry had become so large that Houston County was formed, named for Alabama Governor George Smith Houston, the first Democratic governor elected after the horrid days of Radical Republican Reconstruction in 1874. Happy searching!! Very Henry Countily Yours, Steve Elliott "Robert C. Johnston, Jr." <rcj@elmore.rr.com> wrote: Dear List Members, I am seeking help locating and copying a will and estate record for my great-grandfather who died in Abbeville. I know the will and estate settlement is recorded there, so what is the best way to go about getting a copy mailed to me? Should I write to Probate Clerk for a copy, or is there someone who could help me obtain a copy of his will and estate settlement records from the courthouse? Robert ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ALHENRY-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message --------------------------------- Never Miss an Email Stay connected with Yahoo! Mail on your mobile. Get started!

You will need to hire someone to go and copy the document, because I wrote them a few years ago seeking the Estate Records or Will of Elizabeth Shipp Oates who died 6 Dec 1866. They told me State law did not permit them to let people copy the items anymore. They could not make copies on their Xerox machine, because of the bad condition of the documents. It is their own fault, because they did not keep the documents in a climate controlled room. A person doing research on the Kirklands found the Deed or Orphan's Court Record Book, which mentioned this family in a mop bucket. in the Janitors closet. I do not know if the conditions have changed or not. The Arechives does have the Probate records from Henry County Alabama. You can send them a letter, asking their fee to copy Deeds or other things. They cannot make copies, but I think you can go and copy them by hand. Le ----- Original Message ----- From: "Robert C. Johnston, Jr." <rcj@elmore.rr.com> To: <alhenry@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, February 28, 2007 6:54 AM Subject: [ALHENRY] Courthouse Records Lookup Dear List Members, I am seeking help locating and copying a will and estate record for my great-grandfather who died in Abbeville. I know the will and estate settlement is recorded there, so what is the best way to go about getting a copy mailed to me? Should I write to Probate Clerk for a copy, or is there someone who could help me obtain a copy of his will and estate settlement records from the courthouse? Robert ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ALHENRY-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message