Dear Fellow Searchers: I wrote to Barbara Vines Little regarding the Bill currently being considered in Virginia that would allow the clerks to destroy oruiginal Wills after they had been microfilmed, asking if we could help by making our voices heard. She has responded, and from the number of responses I received in just posting the original notice, I know many people feel that some alternative such as donating the original documents to a Historical Society or a library would be a much better solution than simply destroying them. Below is Ms. Little's reponse. I certainly hope many of you will take the time to respond to the address she has listed in her message and let your feelings be known regarding this pending legislation. As we have all experienced from trying to read Census Records and other old documents that have been microfilmed, glitches do happen and information can be unreadable or lost. These Wills contain much of the early history of this country, and losing this valuable resource is truly going to be a travesty for all who seek information on their ancestors who may have lived or landed on Virginia soil and then emigrated to other parts of the United States. Perhaps we need to remind these elected officials of the importance of preservation and suggest an alternate means of solving whatever problem prompted them to write this bill in the first place. Please share this with anyone you feel would be interested in helping in this effort. Judy Neu Springwater, NY Thank you. It isn't too late to call or write our Virginia Senators & Delegates. Please do so. find the legislator here: <A HREF="http://legis.state.va.us/">http://legis.state.va.us/</A> Virginia Senate Bill 818, Destruction of will files. Allows the clerk to destroy a will's file along with the original will after it is no longer of any value and after it has been microfilmed. Barbara Vines Little, CG Dominion Research Service PO Box 1273, Orange, VA 22960