Barbara, I am glad to hear that an effort is to be made to film the remaining unfilmed records in the Sumter County Courthouse. To my knowledge there are two or three sets of surviving "loose" records there that have not been filmed. First, there are many volumes of civil, and perhaps criminal, court records upstairs in the Probate Annex, in a single room, that date back to the earliest days of the county. I know for a fact that a lot of those records have been carried from the courthouse, but many remain, more than enough to justify a filming project. In another room upstairs in the Probate Annex are valuable old tax assessment records. I had them permanently bound when I was the Tax Assessor, but they need to be filmed. Unfortunately, I believe that all that remains are three volumes of real estate assessment records from the 1850s, plus one or two volumes of personal property assessment records from later in the 1800s. All other such tax records from the 1800s have been lost. As you probably recall, Jud Arrington gave to me the only surviving death register from the 1800s, which had been given to him by a former probate judge. After using portions of it in our book, I deposited the death register in the Alabama Room at the University of West Alabama. I still have in my possession some old voting records from the 1800s that I intend to deposit for safekeeping in the Alabama Room. I believe that the death register and the voting records should be included in any filming project. If a volunteer effort is to be attempted, I suggest that consideration be given to volunteers organizing the project, and perhaps doing some of the sorting of the records, but asking the county commission to hire qualified young people next summer as interns to finish the job. This would be a way to accomplish a worthwhile project and, at the same time, providing opportunities for at least a few young people in the economically depressed area of Sumter County to have summer jobs. I also suggest that the effort be widely publicized within the county and people asked to search their "attics" for old public records. Unfortunately, former courthouse officials allowed individuals to remove public records from the courthouse. One of the old personal property tax assessment records that I had bound was brought back to the courthouse by a friend who just happened to know about my effort to preserve old tax records, and who knew that that record was in his attic. While I do not feel up to leading the volunteer effort, I would be glad to assist in it. Best of luck! Joe