Paul, this has gone in all directions from my request that access be allowed to the Surry loose papers until I'm not sure it is related. All I asked is that the papers be made available to someone such as Bunny & Steve if they will photo & put on internet free of charge. For that I was & will still be glad to contribute (modest amount) to them directly for their expenses and for the time they put in. This has now snowballed into a full blown suggested project of organizing, publishing with every conceivable complicated method & process-- a for-profit deal that the public is then expected to buy-- the product they financed to get done. Any minute I'm expecting the organization to be incorporated with shares offered. The Peter Principle is becoming a possiblity. Simple: one sheet at a time as taken from the box, no indexing, no organization; I will be able to organize according to my needs. That done, the photos can then be sorted, organized, indexed & put into any type publication one wants for sale. So.....my offer is still good as described above. Otherwise, I will have to see the final plans (if they ever come about) before I commit to subsidizing the proposed project.. I'll just wait until some enterprising soul is able to publish & then purchase a copy of their work... of which I have no problem at all. Love the printed page! Best, Sarah

Hi, Sarah. Please do not think that I am disdainful of your view, for I surely am not. I feel that this is not a complicated project, however I have examined thousands of papers from courts and full well realize that the many names buried in that tedious writing are revealed only through experience. That writing in those thousands of documents is NOT readable by most of us without great labor, and without an index to those names, the work is next to useless. It would take a lifetime for the casual researcher to even begin to search those records, and then all who followed that researcher would travel the same road over and over and over, to no benefit whatever for us all. While SOME volunteers are able - AND HAVE THE TIME - to decipher 18th century writing, most are simply not able or have the days to do so. If we can gain the assistance of such as Steve, Bunny and Weynette Haun, we will be years ahead in accomplishing the task. Who derives what funds, if any, and when are simply not what we should be worried about now. Paul --- Original Message ----- From: "Sarah Keesee" <lydiap@salisbury.net> To: <VASURRY-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, August 07, 2001 10:59 PM Subject: Surry Loose Papers > Paul, this has gone in all directions from my request that access be > allowed to the Surry loose papers until I'm not sure it is related. All I > asked is that the papers be made available to someone such as Bunny & Steve > if they will photo & put on internet free of charge. For that I was & will > still be glad to contribute (modest amount) to them directly for their > expenses and for the time they put in. > This has now snowballed into a full blown suggested project of > organizing, > publishing with every conceivable complicated method & process-- a > for-profit deal that the public is then expected to buy-- the product they > financed to get done. > Any minute I'm expecting the organization to be incorporated with shares > offered. The Peter Principle is becoming a possiblity. > > Simple: one sheet at a time as taken from the box, no indexing, no > organization; I will be able to organize according to my needs. That done, > the photos can then be sorted, organized, indexed & put into any type > publication one wants for sale. > > So.....my offer is still good as described above. Otherwise, I will have > to see the final plans (if they ever come about) before I commit to > subsidizing the proposed project.. I'll just wait until some enterprising > soul is able to publish & then purchase a copy of their work... of which I > have no problem at all. Love the printed page! > Best, > Sarah > > > > ==== VASURRY Mailing List ==== > Don't forget to check out the Surry County, Virginia, Historical Society > http://www.rootsweb.com/~vaschsm/Index.html > List Mistress is Eve Gregory egregory20@earthlink.net > > > ============================== > Visit Ancestry's Library - The best collection of family history > learning and how-to articles on the Internet. > http://www.ancestry.com/learn/library >

Paul, This is the third copy of your message. I understood the first very well and I'm glad you aren't disdainful of my view so I'll carry on: In my little experience (miniscule compared to yours I'm sure) in organizing work I've found that the simpler the better; the fewer the committees, the fewer meetings the faster a project can be finished. Too many cooks and all that. I've also seen early writing and agree it is miserable--sometimes impossible--at times to read. Since there is no order to them now, those that are illegible could be set aside (with no damage done) until the last with the note "illegible" or let the recipient of the photo copy decide. In my own amateurish way, I have also indexed books & appreciate the time & work it takes. So if this project is to include committees, meetings, organizing, transcribing, indexing, THEN photo-ing and publishing, we will be able to look forward to the finished product, with a little luck, June 2020. Again the recipient can download the photos & index his own. He/she is not going to be interested in every name in those boxes. Please give the average researcher a little credit in being able to use records on his own. All he needs is to SEE them. This is my last on the subject. Please remove my name from the list of contributors in fairness to the Historical Society so they won't be making decisions depending on my donation. As always, My best Sarah ---- Original Message ----- From: "Paul Drake" <martee@citlink.net> To: <VA-SOUTHSIDE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, August 07, 2001 7:12 PM Subject: [VA-SOUTHSIDE-L] Re: Surry Loose Papers > Hi, Sarah. Please do not think that I am disdainful of your view, > for I surely am not. I feel that this is not a complicated project, > however I have examined thousands of papers from courts and full > well realize that the many names buried in that tedious writing are > revealed only through experience. > > That writing in those thousands of documents is NOT readable by most > of us without great labor, and without an index to those names, the > work is next to useless. It would take a lifetime for the casual > researcher to even begin to search those records, and then all who > followed that researcher would travel the same road over and over > and over, to no benefit whatever for us all. > > While SOME volunteers are able - AND HAVE THE TIME - to decipher > 18th century writing, most are simply not able or have the days to > do so. If we can gain the assistance of such as Steve, Bunny and > Weynette Haun, we will be years ahead in accomplishing the task. Who > derives what funds, if any, and when are simply not what we should > be worried about now. Paul > > --- Original Message ----- > From: "Sarah Keesee" <lydiap@salisbury.net> > To: <VASURRY-L@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Tuesday, August 07, 2001 10:59 PM > Subject: Surry Loose Papers > > > > Paul, this has gone in all directions from my request that > access be > > allowed to the Surry loose papers until I'm not sure it is > related. All I > > asked is that the papers be made available to someone such as > Bunny & Steve > > if they will photo & put on internet free of charge. For that I > was & will > > still be glad to contribute (modest amount) to them directly for > their > > expenses and for the time they put in. > > This has now snowballed into a full blown suggested project of > > organizing, > > publishing with every conceivable complicated method & process-- > a > > for-profit deal that the public is then expected to buy-- the > product they > > financed to get done. > > Any minute I'm expecting the organization to be incorporated with > shares > > offered. The Peter Principle is becoming a possiblity. > > > > Simple: one sheet at a time as taken from the box, no indexing, > no > > organization; I will be able to organize according to my needs. > That done, > > the photos can then be sorted, organized, indexed & put into any > type > > publication one wants for sale. > > > > So.....my offer is still good as described above. Otherwise, I > will have > > to see the final plans (if they ever come about) before I commit > to > > subsidizing the proposed project.. I'll just wait until some > enterprising > > soul is able to publish & then purchase a copy of their work... > of which I > > have no problem at all. Love the printed page! > > Best, > > Sarah > > > > > > > > ==== VASURRY Mailing List ==== > > Don't forget to check out the Surry County, Virginia, Historical > Society > > http://www.rootsweb.com/~vaschsm/Index.html > > List Mistress is Eve Gregory egregory20@earthlink.net > > > > > > ============================== > > Visit Ancestry's Library - The best collection of family history > > learning and how-to articles on the Internet. > > http://www.ancestry.com/learn/library > > > > > ==== VA-SOUTHSIDE Mailing List ==== > USGW Archives Pension Project > http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/pensions/ > > > ============================== > Join the RootsWeb WorldConnect Project: > Linking the world, one GEDCOM at a time. > http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com > >