Dear Sue and LC list, There should be a folder in the Louisa County Heritage Center Library for each person listed under the lookup surname. There may be only a half sheet of paper in the the folder, naming only one surname of interest. There may be 30 pages tracing the descent of someone with that surname. There may be 30 pages and the surname is a collateral one that is listed only once in the 30 pages. You never know until you look in the folder. The reference may be to a person 150 years ago; it may refer to a person in 1995. It is time-consuming and researching the old-fashioned way to pull each folder and look for the occurence of that particular surname. If I have a name and address for the person making a query about that surname or contributing information to the Heritage Center Library or maybe listing a collateral relative or maybe taking the surname from an ahnentafel, etc., I then give you that person's last known name and address, even though it may be 10 years old. I have no way of knowing if the person is deceased, has moved to a new address, etc. These people, for the majority, were not computer users when the information became known to the Louisa County Genealogical Society. I have no way of knowing which ones are present members of the LC rootsweb list, use a computer in their research, have an e-mail address, etc. A surname only is listed, and there is no guarantee that you and the person listed are searching for the same family. In spite of the above drawbacks, IT HAS BEEN USEFUL in bringing people researching the same family into contact with each other. Long-lost and unknown cousins have often been found by family researchers. Their mutual sharing of family information enriches all. There are no guarantees, however. The ideal way to use the index listings would be for you to personally visity the Heritage Center Library and look for the particular folder of interest, pull it, inspect it, and return it to the file. (Most times you can find the folder; some have disappeared, been misfiled, etc. and cannot be located.) The next best way is to try and contact the people named in the index as interested in the same surname that you are. You may write a letter to the address given. You may use the resources on the Internet to search for a telephone number, a newer address, use the Social Security Index to possibly identify a death date, etc. When I state "See such and such a file", the contributor may be deceased, it may refer to a descendancy of a pioneer family member, it may refer to a file for a location, such as Toolesboro or Virginia Grove, it may have been information for a biographical history for a book that was cancelled, etc. In these cases, if you wish to have the file searched, and distance and time prevent you from doing the search yourself, you have to request me or another local person to search for you and report the results. There are several of us willing to make such searches, but we can't always do so "right now". The more names there are to look up, the greater the possibilty of striking out and not making a connection to people with a relationship to you, even when the surname is the same. We have had many people who are searching for the same people, such as the surnames of SHAW, KEEVER, WINCE, BUFFINGTON, WILLIAMS etc. I will probably respond to the list when answering requests to search specific folders for surnames, as someone else in addition to the requestor may be interested in that same surname. Copies may be made of pertinent material found and either snail-mailed, transcribed, or in some instances possibly scanned and sent by modem. The latter would mean removal of the folders from the library, and this has been frowned upon, even when the removal of the folders has been for indexing purposes. I try to index the folders before they are placed in the library. You may e-mail me if you have additional questions. Cheers from Keith. Keith Street ckcasey@netins.net 325 Franklin Ave, Wapello, IA 52653-1515 319-523-8164 -----Original Message----- From: Sue P. Elliott <palliott@usaonline.net> To: Keith/Connie Street <ckcasey@netins.net> Date: Thursday, April 06, 2000 7:45 AM Subject: Re: Lookup # 45: RANDOLPH >Thank you, Keith and Connie, >How do I gain access to this file? Is there someway I can get copies of the >information? > >Sue P. Elliott >----- Original Message ----- >From: "Keith/Connie Street" <ckcasey@netins.net> >To: <IALOUISA-L@rootsweb.com> >Sent: Thursday, April 06, 2000 4:06 >Subject: Lookup # 45: RANDOLPH > > >> Dear Sue and LC list, >> >> This is response # 45 >> >> RANDOLPH >> See Elbert Hill file folder in Heritage Center Library in Wapello. >> >> END OF MESSAGE >> >> Keith Street >> ckcasey@netins.net >> 325 Franklin Ave, Wapello, IA 52653-1515 >> 319-523-8164 >> >> >> >> ==== IALOUISA Mailing List ==== >> Mailing Lists: >> mailto:IALOUISA-L@rootsweb.com >> mailto:IAHENRY-L@rootsweb.com >> mailto:IAHENRY-L@rootweb.com >>