Sharon, When I work with probate files of loose documents, I always return them in the order in which I received them. I habitually re-order my photocopies of those documents, however, to chronological order. I find they tell me their story that way. Although I keep original records in their original order, I happen to think that it isn't likely that they've always been in that order. I don't happen to think that average clerks really care, nor that 150 years of access are likely to be orderly. I just don't myself add to the disorder. Barbara

Like Barbara, I never change the order of documents in an original file. But I feel free to use my copies in any way that helps me. On most of the files I have seen, pension, probate, and other, the records don't appear to be in any particular order. I have often found page 2 of a document many pages away in a file, as received. But just in case they are in some order I don't see, I always number documents in the order in which I receive the file. I usually write a small number in an upper corner of the back of a document--or make a copy of the PDF in which I can then rearrange things and add annotation, but still have the original as received. Then I feel free to reorganize chronologically or by subject matter of the documents. Because I make an inventory of the pages in a table or a spreadsheet, I can easily sort the inventory instead of needing to shuffle around papers or pages within a PDF. The inventory contains a brief description and a list of the people named in the document--anything I may want to quickly find again. Looking at the information in different ways can lead to new insights and the inventory makes that easier. Regards, Debbie Debbie Parker Wayne, CG(SM) -- Wayne Research <http://debbiewayne.com/> -- Deb's Delvings Blog <http://debsdelvings.blogspot.com/> CG and Certified Genealogist are service marks of the Board for Certification of Genealogists®, used under license by associates who meet prescribed genealogical competency standards. Barbara Mathews wrote on 12/29/2012 5:48 PM: > ... > > I habitually re-order my photocopies of those documents, however, to > chronological order. I find they tell me their story that way. > > Although I keep original records in their original order, I happen to think > that it isn't likely that they've always been in that order. I don't happen > to think that average clerks really care, nor that 150 years of access are > likely to be orderly. I just don't myself add to the disorder. > > ...