There are a few genealogy books you probably won't find anywhere else but the library in Fredericktown. They also have the courthouse deeds and probate records for before 1900 on microfilm. Prints from the microfilms in the library are a quarter a page, and in the courthouse a buck or two a deed and the staff is not nice to the books. There are the same microfilms at the State Archives. Some of the deed indexes are wrong, some of the microfilms failed to get the last line or two of a page which if that is where the deed was indexed its a real pain to not find it on the microfilm. Been there, done that. I find it handier to figure out what book they really meant by having the books at hand than to try to search through microfilms when the index is wrong. I take a camera and photograph the deeds, one half page of the ledger book to the 35 mm frame. Its faster than copying and easier on the books. The probate records have been organized by surname initial which makes them easier to search than sequentially sometimes. The collections at the State Historical Society libraries are all different. Each library has some staples but many unique entries, so you need to look at Columbia, St. Louis, and Rolla. Fortunately their indices are on the internet. Also the Western Historical Manuscript collections are different but indexes are on the internet. There is an undated early plat book for Madison County in the courthouse vault that can be interesting. I've photographed a couple of its pages, mainly the Creek Nation and Buckhorn areas. I don't know of any copies. The library in Fredericktown opens fairly late in the morning, so its convenient to start in the courthouse and then go to the library. The Madison County Historical Society has a few books for sale on the day when they are open. Gerald J. -- Entire content copyright Dr. Gerald N. Johnson. Reproduction by permission only.