Today I got my copy of the Fall newsletter of the AL Genealogical Society. It includes an article about the fact that the AL Dept of Archives & History (ADAH) is cooperating with the Genealogical Society of Utah (GSU) to microfilm the loose "probate records" (including not only estate case files, but also marriage records, apprenticeships, manumissions, and Confederate pension records, etc, etc) and the loose divorce records, from ALL the circuit clerks' offices in Alabama. ADAH is currently working with volunteers and probate offices in 56 counties, and there are at least 35 projects already underway. HELP IS NEEDED FOR SUMTER COUNTY!! Each county that completes a project gets a free copy of the microfilm of the loose records for that county. Other copies of the microfilm are stored at ADAH, and at The GSU Genealogical Library in Salt Lake City (which is huge & fantastic, & which lends copies of its microfilms to the various LDS Family History Centers around the country). By having copies in all these places, many more of us researchers will be able to access these valuable county records. Volunteers in each county project prepare the actual records for filming, and camera operators from the GSU do the filming. Without volunteers, none of the filming can be done. The actual preparation of the papers for filming is not difficult, and working with others having genealogical interests is great fun. These loose records need to be identified, cleaned, preserved, and FILMED before it is too late, and they deteriorate beyond the point of being readable. It is a very worthwhile project and one that should be close to the heart of everyone seriously searching for their ancestors -- By helping, you might find that one scrap of paper that will identify your most elusive ancestor. Volunteers are particularly needed to prepare the records of Sumter County. Please call 334-242-4452 and speak with Tom Turley on ext.234, or Lyn Frazer on ext. 236, for more information. This phone is for the Alabama Dept of Archives & History in Montgomery, Government Records Division. Please help in any way you can & please pass the word to others who can help. Records in Autauga, Limestone, & Shelby counties have already been filmed, and filming is underway in Baldwin, Blount, Calhoun, Clarke, and Winston counties. New projects are now starting in Coffee, Crenshaw, Henry, & Wilcox counties. Sumter is not the only county for which volunteers are needed. The article noted that help is particularly needed in Butler, Chambers, Choctaw, Coosa, Elmore, Etowah, Hale, Jackson, Lowndes, Sumter, and Washington Counties.