Has anyone here obtained archival material from the Hessisches Staatsarchiv Darmstadt and, if so, how did you determine what to order? I got a nice email from a representative to whom I'd written, asking about an estate file for my 4x great-grandfather Georg Philipp Schuchmann. Apparently the file runs to 320 pages and deals with multiple-year guardianship issues from 1817-1827. I may not need that level of detail. The cost for all 320 pages is a bit prohibitive but they're willing to send me either an inventory ("Vormundschaftsrechnungen") or a "mass reckoning" (not sure how else to translate "Masserechnung") for a more affordable rate. My goal is to find some reference to the date of my ancestor's death, his age at death, and perhaps (if I'm lucky) a reference to his parents' names. Does anyone here have a suggestion for what I should request? Which of the two options (the inventory or mass reckoning) is likely to be more helpful? Any ideas will be helpful, I'm sure, and I'd be grateful for clarification. Regards, Debra MacLaughlan-Dumes http://sakionline.net/familypage