I recently received this through another genealogy list I belong to: "VIRGINIA SENATE BILL 818-E2-80-94-DESTRUCTION OF WILL FILES. January 31, 2003 Virginia Senate Bill 818 Destruction of will files. Allows the clerk to destroy a will's file along with the original will after it is no longer of any value and after it has been microfilmed. Has been reported out of committee. Senator Thomas K. Norment, Jr. of Williamsburg is the only patron. Barbara Vines Little, CG Dominion Research Service PO Box 1273, Orange, VA 22960 bvlittle@earthlink.net Previously published in MISSING LINKS, Vol. 8, No. 5, 3 February 2003 http://www.petuniapress.com Obviously someone doesn't realize the importance of these old documents or the history they represent." This is real alright, folks. I found it on the internet at the Virginia General Assembly web site. The description of the Bill reads as follows: "Destruction of will files. Allows the clerk to destroy a will's file along with the original will after 5 years have passed since probate or recordation and allows destruction of originals of instruments which have been recorded and remained unretrieved by the recording party after 6 months, if the documents are no longer of any value and have been microfilmed." Go to <A HREF="http://legis.state.va.us/">Virginia General Assembly</A> ( or <A HREF="http://legis.state.va.us/">http://legis.state.va.us/</A> ) and type "SB818" (without quotes) in the search box at the top right. You'll get the description and status. What a shame. This is the web site for the VA General Assembly, http://www.alz-nca.org/vapolicy/assembly.asp I recommend each and every member be contacted and I suggest we all take an active interest and pass this on to other lists and county web pages to start a grass roots effort to stop this senseless destruction of our history. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Here is an update. I just checked out the status of the Senate Bill 818 at this site. http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?ses=031&typ=bil&val=sb818&Submit=Go The Senate passed the bill with a 40 - 0 vote and has sent the bill on to the House. I recommend those of us who object to this should send our letters and emails immediately. Jean -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Someone just emailed me with this question: Is our history really destroyed, as long as the records have been microfilmed? This is maybe an even better way of keeping records safe, don't you think? My reply: No, not at all. I have seen microfilmed records with a hand over part of the information, where the page was partially folded therefore covering information, a bent card with a permanent crease that destroyed part of the information or so scratched that it was impossible to read the document. To add my two cents worth, what about the person who does not really know how to microfilm a record and either copies it as too dark or too light and it is unreadable? Or copies only part of the record? This fall I drove from TX to NC to get a copy of a will only to find that whoever copied it make a very dark copy and it could not be read as it was. It was not until I reversed the darkness that I was able to get a partial copy. This will was written in 1689---who would want to destroy that kind of history?