John, Your comments on that "collection" of original deeds points out something that I have mused over for years. Back in the early 1980's I "discovered" a possession of the then HofR --- a box of late 18th Century Somerset County court records ... rolled up pieces of paper each tied with ancient "string", actually some sort of cloth shoelaces is what they looked like! Bless the MSA for the records that we can use ... but what secrets lie buried in the records that most of us will never see in our lifetimes. Maybe the missing wife of my 3-gr grandfather is identified, or clues as to what happened to some of the children of my 6-gr grandfather .... etc etc etc. And, sadly, as each day passes more and more of the old documents, brittle from age, draw closer to decaying and crumbling beyond recognition. Roy C. Pollitt