Dear Sara & list members, Greenbrier County records are not being destroyed. This is a rumor that has bounced around the web for a while now. In fact, the Greenbrier Historical Society is hard at work preserving those very court house records. In the past three years, the society has spent over $8,000 to conserve the actual Greenbrier county records through proper museum and library conservation methods. The society has raised another $2,000 in the past year through donations to our Records Restoration Fund and proceeds from the WV Scots-Irish & Irish Family History Conference. The books are very carefully cleaned, repaired, restored, placed within acid-free mylar sleeves, and rebound (if necessary) and then placed back within the court house for the general public to use. This restoration is performed by professional conservators and both the public and the county government is very pleased with the result. It is, however, a slow and expensive project, but one to which the Greenbrier Historical Society is very dedicated. Please be assured that at this time, no such destruction of Greenbrier County records is occurring. Anyone who would like to contribute to the Records Restoration Fund may do so by contacting the Greenbrier Historical Society at the address below: Greenbrier Historical Society Records Restoration Fund 301 W. Washington St. Lewisburg, WV 24901 Phone: 304/645-3398 FAX: 304/645-5201 Sincerely, Joy Mott Executive Director North House Museum Greenbrier Historical Society, Inc. -----Original Message----- From: Sara Patton <[email protected]> To: [email protected] <[email protected]> Date: Thursday, May 27, 1999 9:10 PM Subject: [WVGREENB-L] Fw: WV County Record Destruction >Some very disturbing news!! > > >-----Original Message----- >From: Elaine D Tomkins <[email protected]> >To: [email protected] <[email protected]> >Date: Tuesday, May 25, 1999 2:44 PM >Subject: [WVHAMPSH-L] County Record Destruction > > >>Hi, Listers, >> >>I just returned from a trip to the local LDS Center where I >>heard some disturbing news. The volunteer worker there told >>me that LDS's head researcher in W.Va. got the word this >>spring that all W.Va. counties will be systematically >>destroying their birth, death, marriage and divorce records. >>Some counties have already destroyed their divorce records, >>which means the process has begun. This means we will all >>have to go to the state archives in Charleston for our >>research. Some of the historical societies in some of the >>counties, upon hearing this, requested that the records be >>given to them, rather than be destroyed. Their request was >>flatly refused. Perhaps some of you W.Va. residents could >>contact your local court house or whoever is responsible for >>such decisions, even at the state level, and campaign to have >>the records donated to the county libraries, rather than being >>destroyed. I would assume that the destruction would involve >>records from no further back than about 1920, since that is >>when all the counties started sending records to the state, >>but it would be a very good idea to ask. I would also assume >>that the birth and death certificates now held at the county >>level will be turned over to the state, but ask about that >>also. I think that tax-paying W.Va. residents would get more >>results than outsiders. Politics, you know! I'm sure that >>everyone on the list will be interested in what you learn. >> >>Elaine in Ohio >> >>______________________________ > > >==== WVGREENB Mailing List ==== >Visit the Greenbrier County, USGenWeb >Home Page! <http://www.rootsweb.com/~wvgreenb/> > >