Dear Sally, Thank you for your concern. I realize that there is a problem there, but unfortunately, our society does not have a better solution. We do not have the facility to house delicate items such as these. The Archives of Michigan do, but I do not know if the Register of Deeds Office would consider it. I would like to recommend that you address these concerns to Diane at the, Register of Deeds in Ionia. She is the person who has the control over these items and the right to give them to the Archives. The Archives facility is climate controlled and fire safe. That is my recomendation. Thanks again for taking the time to express your concerns. Pam Swiler, President Ionia County Genealogical Society At 09:09 AM 1/26/2002 -0800, you wrote: >Hello, Pam -- > >Bruce and Debby EDDY referred me to you. Last October, I had the >wonderful opportunity to spend a genealogical week in MI. Actually, it >was the week of the tornadoes (something we only rarely see in CA), so the >whole trip was quite exciting. > >I spent most of my time in Ingham Co., but I did take one day to visit the >Montcalm and Ionia Co. Court Houses. I spent a profitable afternoon among >Ionia Co's land records. Toward the end of the day, I just happened to >look over in the left corner (as you come into land records storage area) >at the front of the vault. There, on a shelf about halfway up, was a >careless stack of older plat maps. Of course, the1895 bound set was >there. At the bottom of the stack was an unbound set of plat maps that >were hand-rendered on fine grade oil cloth. The ink must have been black >when the set was compiled, but it's now a faded brown. I can't tell you >the year the maps were put together because the cover is now gone, but >judging from what I found, I would guess it to be the early 1870's. The >edges of each piece of cloth are tattered, the fabric's hard finish is >very cracked. I was frankly stunned to see such an early set of maps >stored so carelessly. > >I looked through the set and was able to find several entries for my own >BOLSTER ancestors. In a few years, there will be nothing left for others >to research. My hope is that someone in the county offices will consider >donating these maps to your society before they totally disintegrate. I >don't know what resources your society has to maintain older records, but >at least the maps would get better care than they are receiving now. > >Thanks for taking time to read about my concern. > >Best Regards, >Sally BOLSTER HOLCOMBE >holcombejr@mindspring.com >Walnut Creek, California >Member, Ingham Co. Genealogical Society