Richard, I agree with your statements and have tried to offer monetary and physical help to the county. In my opinion, money is only a small part of the problem, the main obstacle seems to be a cliquish attitude on the part of the County Officials. I was told during the Expose from TV channel 8 that the State had given the county either $10, 000 or $20,000 to help with the preservation. What happened to that money? A Lady from the library in Morristown, Hamblen County told me that they had offered help and were quickly turned down. An employee of the county, Johnny ?, told me that they had thrown out many records after the flooding and they had no intention of maintaining the rest, "they were too old and nobody wants them" was his statement. Billie McNamara will be better able to tell you what has been tried. To the people discussing writing to George Bush; I see no reason for that since as a Governor of Texas he has no influence in Tennessee. I wrote to Al Gore since he sponsored the "Preservation Act" and he says he is from Tn. when neccessary. The Director of the Archives in Nashville, Chuck Sherril, told me that they had tried and could not get the county to cooperate. I would suggest that any letters should be written to Al Gore, Gov. Sundquist, the current US and State Representatives of the county (I'm sure they've changed since my last involvement) and maybe a copy to Chuck Sherril just as a courtesy for his information. As always, keep your letters polite, respectful, and plead for their help from a historical perspective. A word of caution about trying to get volunteer groups to help. These older records are very fragile and probably full of silverfish, they need TLC and fumigants. It would really help if someone local would call Robert Bailey (Historian for Roane County) and discuss this with him. They just recently completed a 3 year preservation project in Kingston and have current experience. The "Hard Books" were placed in the main Courthouse and all the "loose papers" were filed in a vault at the old courthouse. I've also gotten some information about a legal action against the county thinking that under the "records access law, Privacy Act" the county was responsible to maintain these documents. After much review it seems that prior to the "Preservation Act" there was no such responsibility and most County Clerks just did it as part of their job. I read someplace that during the CW when the US Army was burning courthouses, the County Clerk at the log courthouse in Rutledge moved the records and hid them at his home. After the courthouse was rebuilt he put them back in place. Too bad we don't have people like that around today. Ken At 10:41 PM 11/08/1999 -0500, you wrote: >I am sad to say that this is the third series of "shock and disbelief" >exchanges about the condition of the Grainger records I have participated >in over the last few years. It is difficult to imagine that so many people >could have made such a dedicated effort to find a resolution and yet the >problem still exists. > >If money is the reason the local government in Rutledge can not help, then >I and many others appear ready to contribute to the effort. But it >appears that first some political pressure must be applied before there >will be some willingness on the part of the Grainger county government to >allow private funds and labor to be used to save the records. Surely there >must be someone that knows someone who is connected the TN state or federal >legislature that could be asked a favor. > >I thank all those who have tried and continue to try to save our heritage >records. > >Richard Soard >SWORD/HOLLINGSWORTH descendant of Grainger County, TN > > >rsoard@mindspring.com > >