Jeannette and list members, Good luck with your campaign. The Register of Deeds office is only trying to preserve their records. The books are falling apart because of use. The staff is tired of telling researchers to move to designated research areas (because they don't read signs) so they can do their everyday work. The corrections that have not been officially made by their office is unbelieveable and, again, it's defacing history. You may not understand this but as someone who is striving to save history for hundreds of generations in the future, something has to be done to save these records. I have seen a horrendous amount of damage done in the last few years. There is always someone researching these records. That means thousands of people, with some who just don't care, handling these precious records. Fortunately, the Register of Deeds can set rules. They were generous with their time and records but that priviledge was abused by a lot of people. After seeing the damage some irresponsible researchers have caused, I hate to say it, but in this case, I'm on the Register of Deed's side. Genealogy was not as popular as it was when your relative was in charge. In the last five to ten years, in some cases, it has gotten out of hand and if there are going to be records available for future generations, something has to be done. I hate what it is doing to people like you and me who have no intentions of defacing anything because we are the ones it's going to hurt the most. Of course, it will also hurt the ones who abuse because they are the ones who absolutely do not want to pay one penny to anyone for copies or research. There is a lot of free research out there. There is also a lot that costs money. I opt for the free stuff as I can't afford much else. But if it is valuable for my research, well, I save a little here and there and am glad to pay someone for their time. Copies can still be available but copies are $7.00 for death and marriage and $12.00 for birth. There are no "xerox" copies. It is hard when you can't go and research yourself. I know, I am doing my own family and the last name is Hughes. I almost have to look at the records and have come up with a roadblock in many Register of Deeds offices in Ohio and Alabama. Jeannette, I know it's hard to understand preserving records that are so "in tact" now. But as a preservationist and archivist for the last seven years, I have seen the deterioration of the records of this county and if you can see it, it's bad!!! As hard as it is for researchers now, it would be worse if the records were destroyed and gone forever. There are options. They may not be the ones we want but there are options. Many of the records are on microfilm at the State Historical Society. My suggestion is that you contact them. After all, it's not the actual records you need to see but the information that is on them, right? Good luck and please try to understand. Kathy Waddell, Archivist Sauk County Historical Society -----Original Message----- From: Jeannette L. Schwarz <jeannett@execpc.com> To: WISAUK-L@rootsweb.com <WISAUK-L@rootsweb.com> Date: Friday, February 18, 2000 7:39 PM Subject: Re: [WISAUK] Sauk County Courthouse searches >Dear Kathy & List Members: > >I am rather upset to hear about these changes. I can understand the >limitation of perhaps making COPIES of many records, since this does >take up the time of the staff. Milwaukee Co., for example, will only >allow a certain number of records to be pulled for copy each day and you >are only allowed 4 hours at a time in the records area. > >However, Sauk Co. has the best research facilities that I have seen so >far (and I've only been to about 7 or 8 counties). They have tons of >room for people to move around back there - it's not like their folks >don't have room to work around anyone else. > >Losing the ability to view the actual records will definitely hurt my >search BADLY!!! I am researching the KIRNER's and the GRAF's in the >county. As you can imagine, GRAF has several spellings, all of which >they seem to have used at one time or another. Also, I am researching >PRETSCH in Sauk. I only found the marriage certificate of my >great-grandfather by chance since it had been so hideously misspelled in >the actual document (please note that we did NOT attempt to correct any >misspelling in the documents with the staff). > >Please be assured that I will follow up with the courthouse on this and >if this is true and the ramifications are such that we will not have >access to the actual document - there will be a letter writing campaign >to the higher ups in the county or higher if necessary. My great-aunt >used to be the Register of Deeds there and I'm sure she will direct me >appropriately. > >I prefer to do my own research since I am the most familiar with the >family. A remote connection may appear that someone outside the family >would not find and therefore, more time would be lost or the information >might never be found. I have been to the courthouse many times over the >last year and am extremely familiar with their record keeping system. I >don't understand why we won't have access to information which was >previously available. This doesn't make sense. > >Jeannette Schwarz >Slinger, WI >jeannett@execpc.com > > > > >Sauk County Historical Society wrote: >> >> FYI: >> >> Bad news for researchers. The Sauk County Register of Deeds office, >> effective March 1, 2000, will no longer allow researchers to research their >> own birth, marriage, death, and land records. Researchers will be permitted >> to look at the indexes only and will only be allowed to see a limited number >> of certificates due to a shortage of staff and other work the staff needs to >> do. This limitation has come about due to some researchers who believe it >> is acceptable to correct records when they see what they believe to be a >> mistake. (The records are so marked up with "corrections" that is difficult >> to tell what is original and what is not.) Rules that were set down by the >> Register of Deeds office have not been followed. In order to preserve >> records, these limitations will be in affect. >> >> It is sad to see that so few are going to affect so many. >> >> The Sauk County Historical Society will still be allowed to do research for >> clients (a fee is involved). There are only two of us in the Society, >> however, permitted to check records. The two of us are allowed due to the >> Society's history with their office, our mission to preserve county history, >> and we are currently funded by the county. Society members, however, will >> have to follow the rules of every other researcher. If queries are sent >> directly to the Register of Deeds office and require any research, they will >> be referred to us. >> >> If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail us at schist@shopstop.net >> >> Kathy Waddell, Archivist >