This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Caverly Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/AFB.2ACE/1739.1 Message Board Post: Hi Don. My grandmother was adopted in Melrose, MA, in 1892. About 4 years ago I went through the process of going to Probate Court in Cambridge and "requesting" that my grandmother's Adoption File be opened. I was able to do this because 100 years had passed. I found this a relatively easy process, as long as important paperwork is available to you, but it does include 2 or 3 trips to the Probate Court. I'm pretty sure that you are required to do this in person ! And, that is unfortunate for those who live in other states. More recently I went to Probate Court in Cambridge to request a look at a "will" from 1905. And, again, I found out it requires 2 trips to the Courthouse. That is because all "old" documents are "in storage" and you need to request them one day, and go back several days later to look at them. (Hoping that they can be found !) While there, I asked if researchers could request a copy of a "will," for example, by way of writing them a formal letter. They responded, "No." They just do not have the "manpower" to handle "genealogy requests." And, spending the time I did there, I saw how busy they were ! ... FYI: Perhaps if a few researchers who don't live too far from Cambridge .. wanted to go have a meeting with an Official at Cambridge Probate Court, we could discuss what genealogists need, and try to come up with a compromise .. for a way for people to get the information they need - either via a "formal letter" (slow-mail) or via "a person will to do the legwork" for the researcher. (Of course the volunteer would need reimbursements for costs.) Betty (near Lowell, MA)