A few weeks ago I got a huge package from the National Society of Colonial Dames of America. Inside were the original applications for membership for my mother, two aunts, grandmother, and 2 great grandmothers. The enclosed letter explained that they had completed digitization of all of their records and were attempting to return the original paperwork to the family. I already had all of the information but it was wonderful seeing it. I have no idea if other societies are doing the same thing but it would be worth checking with each to see if they have no longer need the originals. These paper records take up a huge amount of space so they may have destroyed them as they were scanned. Dee For a detailed bibliography on the reference sources used for lookups refer to this Link: http://www.rootsweb.com/~ncbladen/lookups.htm