A couple of ideas/suggestions. Check with your local Boy Scout council. There are always Scouts looking for Eagle Scout projects, and this type of project would fit well with their requirements. The Scout needs to have a project that is beneficial to the community and requires planning and leadership skills. Due to its size, this undertaking can supply a number of project opportunities. If the local officials are 'not interested' in the records, you may approach them from the point of view that they would no longer need to deal with them. They may be happy to be rid of the responsibility. The most important thing here, in my opinion, is to approach the officials with a defined plan. This makes their decision a yes/no option rather than trying to decide what to do and how to do (and fund) it. With a plan in hand, their difficult work is already finished, and with a volunteer workforce and possible outside funding, the financial issue becomes much less of an obstacle. -Nelson Howell > I know this thread has been running a while, and I may have missed someone > else's suggestion, but it may be worth contacting the DAR or SAR, as both > outfits are pretty well heeled, and take an active role in records preservation. If > you've never made it to the DAR's Constitution Hall Library, you've missed a > treat. DAR transcribed a good many cemeteries nationwide back in the 20s and > 30s, and all of their original documents, typed and bound on onionskin paper, > are included in their holdings, not to mention all of the various descendancy > papers filed by members registering their lineages, as well as an outstanding > collection of bound material pertaining to most counties of all 50 states. > > In any event, funding can be gotten for two levels of preservation, and I > know that an awful lot of people had Revolutionary War vets and their families > come to eastern OH. Certainly microfilming, which many outfits other than the > LDS folks can do. I know that in the past couple of years, an independent > outfit in Bedford Co., PA (my paternal line centers here), did this very thing, > under the auspices of Bedford's Pioneer Historical Society. The cost of the > enterprise is slowly being recouped by offering paid lookups for folks who check > out the online databases at the Pioneer Society's webpage. The material > filmed, rescued from the Bedford Courthouse "dungeon", as well from the > Prothonotary's office in the courthouse, is being protected from further deterioration as > well as outright theft, which plagued this material's history. It might be > worth contacting Kay Leach at the Pioneer Society just to get the skinny on > what the Society had to do to get things rolling and accomplished. > > Beyond the filming, though, the longer-term project will include the > rebinding and lamination of the pages of those volumes considered salvageable. This > is certainly the more expensive of the tasks. This may be beyond the abilities > of Belmont Co. to accomplish in the short run. > I'll try to get a hold of Kay in Bedford Co., and see if she can put into > digestible form just how they went about doing what they did. There's certainly > an abiding interest to be shared, since a number of Bedford Countians were > part of the big migration into Ohio during the early 1800s.