Dear Belmont Listers, Just a note to let you know that there is a preservation project underway. It is being spearheaded by a local resident who has been meticulous in her preparations (obtaining the material necessary to neutralize bird droppings on the materials that had been stored in a bird-accessible room, using HEPA-filters to clean off rodent residue, etc.). We all owe this amazing woman a tremendous debt of gratitude for taking on what most of us would hesitate to tackle on our own. While I was there last month, she took me on a tour from the attic to the basement of the building so I could witness the situation for myself. Believe me, as chicken as I am, that was a loving sacrifice on behalf of all Belmont County researchers everywhere! There are a lot of records stored there. But the worst room is the one she is beginning with. Those records are quite jumbled. However, a large number of the books in other areas of the building are still stacked in their metal racks awaiting organization. They're in good shape, hopefully requiring only dusting as the major portion of their treatment. As a side note, many of the records I saw were too recent to be of much use to genealogists. For example, there was a whole room full of red land record books, most of which were no older than 20 years. Several organizations have used this building, so some of the storage belongs to them also. Nevertheless, there are treasures there that most of us would absolutely love to go through. I glanced through some of the books and felt like crying because I had to go home the next day. (If we'd been able to arrange an earlier visit, I might not have been able to research in the area and find some really interesting new clues.) But if I had no husband and no children and no other responsibilities, they might have to move a bed in there so I could work hard on the preservation project so the records could be made available much sooner. For those of you who are local to Belmont County, your contribution of time under the direction of the coordinator might be of tremendous assistance to her. As I've already said, I'm very impressed by her dedicated commitment to the work. Those of us who live too far away to help in person might be well advised to show our enthusiasm for this project by: writing the county supervisors (who are currently quite supportive of the project, though there is some concern about the future, especially if significant progress hasn't been able to be made by the time of the fall election) to let them know that this truly is important to many people finding out if we could donate to a fund to purchase needed supplies for the cleaning. Having money come in from all around the country might be a much more visible demonstration of how greatly we value the restoration of these records. I am kind of sticking my neck out here, and these opinions are all my own. I haven't gotten permission from anyone to express them. But I find it is so easy to bemoan the negative; much harder to dig in and actually do something about it. So if the volunteer coordinator reads this message and feels that any of these suggestions are useful, perhaps she will write the List directly. Or, if I read my e-mail correctly this morning, there may already be a website where my pictures of the records may be available. If so, that might be a good place to list the ways we long-distance supporters can provide what is needed. So there are my two cents' worth. If you add them to yours, we'll have four. And that's at least a beginning!!! :-} Let's make this more than an e-mail subject, though. We Belmont descendants can do that, can't we? It's time to act. Lorraine Indermill Quillon [email protected] On Fri, 23 Jul 2004 09:19:44 -0400 "Sandra Ferguson" <[email protected]> writes: > I seriously doubt that anyone would have filmed the documents > dumped in > the basement of the WICS bldg and then left them in such deplorable > shape, > piled on the floor along damp walls. However, these weren't > 'recently' > found....... I found them in this shape a couple years ago, and have > pleaded > several times on this list, and to individual members of the local > historical/gen. society to do SOMETHING about them.....I even spoke > with a > couple members that I happened to meet in the library in St > Clairsville, > asking if their group could spearhead some sort of a local group to > rescue > them.......those of us who live out of town are just unable to do > what must > be done to save them..... With no light and no rhyme or reason to > the way > all the ledgers are piled, it will take some time before volunteers > can tell > you WHAT the records are that are in the Wics basement! I had been > told > that they were the tax records, but with no light and boxes of > trash > everywhere, I was unable to do more than survey the mess and then > try to > enlist some help from locals. I can't imagine the interseeding > years have > done them any good! > > Sandra > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "verstraten" <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Friday, July 23, 2004 8:49 AM > Subject: Re: [OHBELMON-L] Document Preservation > > > > I do have a question- have the recent found records been > microfilmed by > the Utah historical society > > (LDS)? If not, I have a contact person that is filming in a > neighboring > county which I could inform. > > I know the LDS were there about 4 yrs ago but I don't know what > records > exist in this "basement" > > environment and it doesn't seem to me that these records would > have been > included in the filming > > that took place then. > > Flora > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: <[email protected]> > > To: <[email protected]> > > Sent: Thursday, July 22, 2004 03:28 PM > > Subject: [OHBELMON-L] Document Preservation > > > > > > The following announcement is from another genealogy site: > > > > Document Preservation group forming.... > > Helen Stanford, of Smith Township, is spearheading a project to > salvage > the > > old county records which have been stored for years in the > basement of the > > onetime County Home on State Route 331. Much controversy has > surrounded > the > > deteriorating condition of the building and the possible damage or > loss of > > important historical documents; many dating to the 1800's. Helen > attended > a recent > > Belmont County Board of Commissioners meeting, explained the > situation and > got > > them to state for the record - "the Board's goal is to centralize > the > county's > > public records, clean them, and preserve them for future > generations." > > > > The first step in the preservation of these documents is the > removal and > > cleaning of hundreds of old books and ledgers from the basement > area. A > work area > > has been set up on the second floor of the old County Home and the > work of > > cleaning the books has begun. Anyone wishing to help with this > worthwhile > > project should contact Helen at [email protected] > > > > Volunteers are needed to help clean the books and donations are > needed for > > cleaning supplies, HEPA filters, masks, etc. > > > > The Document Preservation Committee (working name only) will be > providing > a > > valuable service to genealogists and local historians as well as > future > > generations. The hope is to create one centrally located, > comprehensive > library of > > county record books that can be accessed by the public. The > ultimate > goal, in > > my opinion, should be to have the most important documents scanned > and > made > > available through the internet. Any ideas and suggestions are > welcomed. > > > > >