I mentioned this as a possible project in a message I sent a couple of weeks ago, and got a resounding "YES" as a response. First, let me say that there are hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of marriage bonds for Guilford, and it will take quite some time to get all onto the website. A few people may have assumed I'd get all of them listed this month, and that certainly isn't going to happen. I have a job and a family! This will be a gradual process, and I have been trying to figure out a way to prioritize things so that the ones which are most desirable to the list members will be the first ones going up. I've spent a good chunk of time over the last couple of weeks setting up the pages to handle this, which involves 23 new pages for the website. I combined P & Q, and U & V, and X, Y & Z. I added a separate page for Mc's, which would include Mac's as well. There are only a few bonds listed on each page so far, but I went ahead and did those to set the HTML format up. This way I don't have to keep dividing pages in the future. In putting a few bonds on each page, I chose some of my own surnames for the most part. I uploaded copies of a few image files I have, which you will find on the B and D and H pages. I will have to hunt through some more files that I have to get some others I know I have. Let's do things in this order: (1) First, for the next week or so, until after Christmas, I'd like to solicit contributions of images that list members may have. If the bond is one that's not listed yet, I'll (obviously) list that one, and I will go ahead and list other bonds for that groom's surname. The image can be a digital photo image, or a scan of a photocopy. Ideally, I'd like to have copies of the bond front and reverse, as there is often a little information on the back as well. I need to keep the size of the files down, so that I won't have a problem with server space. I've played around with this a bit, and I'd like to request that files be 150 KB or less. There's no need to scan at 2400 dpi. I scanned at 200 dpi, and even then I downsized some files further without losing legibility. I do have photo software, if you do not and want to send a larger file. I can crop and reduce the size. But please don't send me a file exceeding a size of 1-2 MB. (2) AFTER I deal with the responses to #1 above, and AFTER I get through Christmas, I will solicit one request per list member for surname look-ups. But, please, I'm not asking for those now! Just wait a couple of weeks. I'll send another message to the list. I plan to spend time over the weekend after Christmas and the weekend after New Year's dealing with those requests. I can't deal with those now. I need to decorate the tree today, and get ready to host the family next week. If you e-mail me now, I'll just lose the request. So, please, wait. I will not be cross-indexing brides' surnames for now. You'll just have to use the FreeFind search feature to find those. That search system updates itself every Saturday morning. Also, I will be listing only the data that is actually on the bond. I will not list anything that is based on conclusions, such as who the parents might be, etc. That is for researchers to confirm with their own independent research. * * * * * In the meantime, Rick Saunders, who is a professional genealogist, has made a very kind offer. He can obtain images for individuals through his access to the microfilm at the Family History Center in Salt Lake City, and he has offered to do that at a reduced rate if the person making the request makes a donation to the Guilford County Genealogical Society. Contact him for further details. You will find the link to his e-mail address after the table of links to the bond pages, which are shown on the Vital Records page: _http://www.rootsweb.com/~ncguilfo/VitalRecords.html_ (http://www.rootsweb.com/~ncguilfo/VitalRecords.html) I am concerned that some of the internet and published lists that I've seen for this series of bonds have some inaccuracies, and so I want to make it possible for people to view the images themselves. And this is something that all of us should do when we're conducting our research. Also, I want to use the actual clerk's or signatory's spellings of names. Any researcher with any experience needs to be familiar with all the spelling variations that can occur in early records, anyway. As I said in the message a couple of weeks ago, this is my Christmas gift to the mailing list. If you feel moved to indicate your thanks for this new project, please do so by making a donation to, or joining, the Guilford County Genealogical Society: _http://www.rootsweb.com/~ncgcgs/_ (http://www.rootsweb.com/~ncgcgs/) Katherine Dick Benbow County Coordinator, Guilford County NCGenWeb _http://www.rootsweb.com/~ncguilfo/index.html_ (http://www.rootsweb.com/~ncguilfo/) **************************************See AOL's top rated recipes (http://food.aol.com/top-rated-recipes?NCID=aoltop00030000000004)