(Betty - would you please forward this to the Festus (Jeffco), Franklin and Washington Co libraries/societies; and/or to anyone else who may have an interest. I was unable to locate their email addr's. Tks)   Dear listers and Historical/Genealogy Society members:   There is finally news regarding the location of Brian Oster's marriage record files.   As most of you are likely aware, Brian passed away in 2011 and his website (Vienici.com), which contained thousands of searchable transcribed historical marriage records for our combined counties became unavailable. It seemed this information might never be retrieved, but there is finally some good news.    It has taken the better part of a year to get this far - after letters and phone conversations with Brian's sister, emails and phone conversations with the Tampa Historical Society, communication with each of Brian's previous neighbors, correspondence with the current owner of Brian's home, and emails and phone conversations with the below genealogy department, I have received an email which acknowledges possession of Brian's resources. (See the email below; personal information has been removed/edited).   My hope was to obtain the TRANSCRIBED marriage records and simply ensure they were placed back online in a searchable format.  Instead of receiving verification that a copy of the transcribed marriage records was available, I'm stunned to learn that this library is in possession of the actual marriage books. Technically, these books are more-so important to our local area than where they are currently stored, but because of the circumstances of Brian's health, I'm sure a quick decision had to be made to ensure the documentation was preserved and kept safe.  Since his residence was in Florida, this is where he donated his resources. From a legal standpoint, these books will remain in Florida.   I'm sure we all agree that obtaining copies of these marriage books is very important to Missouri and our particular local counties.  The library is very willing to work with us, however, there will be a cost associated with having them copied and sent.  [The exact cost is yet to be provided to me, although I am confident they are trying to keep the cost as economical as feasibly possible).  In addition to this cost, there is the dilemna that these marriages may need to be retranscribed.    I intend to followup to ask if they are aware of the location of his computer and/or his transcribed files (although, I believe it is in Lousiana now), and to inquire as to the estimated cost in regard to obtaining copies of these books.   Meanwhile, I would like to hear everyone's feedback on this, particularly regarding society/library (or otherwise) funds for this endeavor.    Thanks, Kay Clerc-Fakhar Jefferson County Historical Society     ----- Forwarded Message ----- To: 'Kay Clerc'  Sent: Monday, November 19, 2012 10:22 AM Subject: RE: Brian Oster : Donated Missouri Marriage Records   Dear Ms. Clerc,   Below is what I have learned about the Brian Oster donation.   About one month prior to his death, Brian Oster spoke with Margaret as he wanted to donate his genealogy books to the library.  Margaret was in the process of working out the details of picking up the large collection when she learned of his death.   Soon afterwards Margaret and a volunteer went to Mr. Oster's house and boxed up about 200 books.  These books have since then been added to the genealogy collection of our library.  Only genealogy related books were taken from the house.  Our library did not receive “Brian’s records and personal research” as your email states.    Twenty bound volumes of Missouri marriage records are included in the donation.  The following is a list: ·         Franklin County, Missouri Marriage License Records o   1819-1845, vol. A o   1845-1864, vol. B o   1914-1921, vol. L ·         St. Francois County, Missouri Marriage License Records o   1819-1876, vols. 1 & 2 o   1876-1887, vols. 3 & 4 o   1887-1893, vol. 5 o   1893-1897, vol. 6 o   1897-1900, vol. 7 ·         Washington County, Missouri Marriage License Records o   1881-1889, vol. 1 o   1889-1897, vol. 2 o   1897-1904, vol. 3 o   1904-1911, vol. 4 o   1911-1918, vol. 5 o   1918-1926, vol. 6 o   1926-1932, vol. 7 o   1932-1937, vol. 8 o   1815-1844, vol. A o   1844-1862, vol. B o   1822-1881, vol. C ·         Washington County, Missouri Mixed Vital Records   There are two copies of the three volume set of Franklin County's records. We will be glad to send you the duplicate copies.    We feel that we need to retain the other volumes as that was Mr. Oster’s intent when he spoke to the library prior to his death. However, we would like to facilitate the duplication of the volumes if your organization is willing to pay the cost of photocopying or scanning.  I’m working now on getting quotes from a few local vendors.   We understand the importance of the marriage records to the genealogy community and look forward to assisting you in making the records once again available to researchers.   Sincerely,   Senior Librarian Library Services Hillsborough County       From:Kay Clerc [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, November 13, 2012 5:30 PM Subject: Re: Brian Oster : Donated Missouri Marriage Records   Just so there is no confusion... In 2012, the genealogical/historical transcribed records of Brian Oster, [address] were  donated to your location. It wasn't clear to me whether Brian's sister or Anthony [surname], who was his  neighbor was responsible for the donating these records.   At the time of Brian's death in 2011, his Tampa files were donated to the local Historical Society. It was this Society who agreed to help our Society retrieve the Missouri records. This never happened and when the house was later sold, the remainder of the Brian's records and personal research went to your Library genealogy collection.   Brian had been an active volunteer in our genealogy organizations and led a transcription project of our historical marriage records...... Brian's private website fees (VIENICI.COM), which he personally paid, became inaccessible.  Our historical societies wish to restore this information, but we have no access to bring the records back online, and have had no luck dealing with Brian's website server: ‘Hosting Matters’, or Network Solutions, LLC. [Server: NS.PROPAGATION.NET].  We are willing to pay funds necessary to obtain this information so that it may once again be made available to researchers free of charge.   We  greatly appreciate your assistance!    -Kay (phone)   OBIT: Brian Joseph Oster, an avid Genealogist, passed away on Wednesday,  April 20, 2011.....   To:  '[email protected]' Sent: Tuesday, November 13, 2012 2:04 PM Subject: Brian Oster : Donated Missouri Marriage Records   Hi Ann,   Earlier this afternoon, I received a call from Kay Clerc of  the Jefferson County Missouri Historical Society inquiring about Brian Oster's donated Missouri marriage records. Ms. Clerc was told by Anthony (surname;personal email); who was a neighbor of Brian Oster, before his death in 2011) that the Historical Society donated all of Oster's records to the Library in 2012. Before, Mr. Oster's death he paid for a private website,  which contained copies of transcriptions of Missouri marriage records, but since his death the website can no longer be accessed by society members. As a result, the Jefferson County Missouri Historical Society would like copies of our Oster's transcriptions, especially the Missouri Marriage records. Thanks. Glynnis