Elizabeth, the microfilms are of the original County records - county courts, deeds, wills and probate, marriage bonds, land entries, surveys, patents, etc. These are not called "vital statistics", but you glean the genealogical material by reading them. They are, indeed, real and not farbicated films of the original, hand-written documents!! People have been reading these for many years - a lot of the films I have at my local LDS Family History Center - the same available at the KY Library Archives in Frankfort, and KY university libraries - were filmed back in the 1940s and 50s. I suppose you haven't been researching long enough to have seen these??? They are the only "real proof" records, unless you have something before copied by the County Clerks into the record books. Genealogy has moved leaps and bounds beyond reading the old books published by so-called researchers.... Hope you will discover this wonderful world of research!! Mary Alice ________________________________________ PeoplePC Online A better way to Internet http://www.peoplepc.com