Just a guess - perhaps these are "loose papers" that the LDS History Library is in the process of sorting and microfilming in every county in Alabama. In some counties the Gen. Society has a committee doing the initial work, such as Jefferson. This has been done in Bibb within the last year; Autauga County was the first several years ago. Caroline H. ----- Original Message ----- From: "DS" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, July 12, 2004 10:10 AM Subject: Re: [ALTUSCAL] Tuscaloosa Courthouse > All I know is that it would seem to me that EVERYTHING up there is as a minimum historal and should enjoy the legal/archival protection of the state. As to public access, this also would seem to be part of the legal / archival protection umbrella, but somehow the county's responsiblity to the public seems to be ignored. > > ds > > ================== > All I know, is that another researcher I regularly correspond with had done some research there in the last year. I think the conditions there were VERY bad and the records not bing taken care of. She's the one who mentioned they are closing the floor off to researchers because of "hazardous" conditions and I thought I would query the mailing list to see if anyone knew anything about it. I wonder why the historical society has not done something about it....unless their hands are tied. > > Julie >

Much, much, more than that, Caroline. Legal books/docs, court docs, and more. I found about 12-15 hits on my Solomon Stewart timeframe 1823-1827 or so, as I remember, back in 1993. Apparently no one has taken any action to preserve, tidy up, and catalogue the holdings. When I was up there with one of the clerks, it seemed like it was about 160 degrees, so I doubt if anyone has the motivation to get up there and nail down what's there. My estimate is that is would take about week for a two-person team to 'index' or 'catalogue' what's there. The clerk that assisted me, by the way, KNEW EXACTLY where the docs where that I would need. I.E., I said '1823 to 1829' or so and she took me to two separate shelves in a heartbeat. So there is some method to the neglected madness up there, and it would be a beautiful project for the local genealogical society to undertake. Better yet, let the LDS folks get in there and film all, and in the process, submit a catalogue of the holdings to the Judge and the public, as well as a local copy of the films made. For a few dollars, and the cost of my RV lodging, I would happily go over there in the colder months (Jan / Feb 2005) and attempt to catalogue the holdings. There's a mint of information there, and, now that I understand the value of, and routinely use, a scanner, I would love to scan the outside of each doc and catalogue it for content. (Although I'll admit many of the docs there are extremely worn and the front etching or writing is illegible.) Dick Stewart Colorado Springs ============== Just a guess - perhaps these are "loose papers" that the LDS History Library is in the process of sorting and microfilming in every county in Alabama. In some counties the Gen. Society has a committee doing the initial work, such as Jefferson. This has been done in Bibb within the last year; Autauga County was the first several years ago. Caroline H.