Greetings folks---here is a transcription of an article that appeared in yesterday's Hampshire Review. This is concerning the Colonial and Early Republic era loose records that were stored in the Hampshire County courthouse and were recently "rediscovered". OLD COUNTY RECORDS COULD HAVE BETTER FUTURE by Michael O"Brien ROMNEY---State archive officials have offered to place old county records dating to 1754 on microfilm, make needed repairs to those documents and improve the way the originals are stored. Fred Armstrong with the state archive department recently contacted Hampshire County Clerk Sharon Link about the project. Armstrong is scheduled to meet with the County Commission late next month to discuss details of the microfilm and restoration work. Hampshire County Commission President John Dan Sitar requested the meeting. Apparently, Sitar wants to know more about the plans because the historic documents in question will have to be taken to Charleston. Link said Armstrong told her the work would take about six weeks. "He (Armstrong) said it was not feasible to transport and set up the microfilm equipment here," Link told commissioners last week. There are about 3,800 historic county estate records that will be placed on microfilm and repaired. The documents are now kept in the basement vault of the courthouse. They are kept folded in envelopes that are storwed in a metal file cabinet. Armstrong plans to have the documents preserved and stored in an unfolded fashion. Link explained that many of the documents are brittle and subject to damage when unfolded. "The state will undertake the project at no expense to the county", explained the county clerk. The county will also receive a copy of the mcrofilm and the documents will be returned to the courthouse. Link said having the documents on microfilm will greatly improve their availability to the public. The historic estate records are a popular item for genealogical researchers. ------------------- Just a note, the Hampshire County Library in Romney has a microfilm viewer with photocopy capability. These records on microfilm will be a tremendous boost for researchers of all kinds. I'll keep the list posted about further developments. Terry Gruber

Terry, This is marvelous news. I have a further suggestion. . . Rather than place the documents on Microfilm (or in addition to), perhaps they could have them all scanned into electronic files. Microfilm is old technology and is only accessible if you happen to be physically at a place. Electronic documents would be far more accessible and automated search engines would help a great deal. thanks, Mark See -----Original Message----- From: Terry Gruber [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, April 27, 2000 2:39 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Early Hampshire County Records Greetings folks---here is a transcription of an article that appeared in yesterday's Hampshire Review. This is concerning the Colonial and Early Republic era loose records that were stored in the Hampshire County courthouse and were recently "rediscovered". OLD COUNTY RECORDS COULD HAVE BETTER FUTURE by Michael O"Brien ROMNEY---State archive officials have offered to place old county records dating to 1754 on microfilm, make needed repairs to those documents and improve the way the originals are stored. Fred Armstrong with the state archive department recently contacted Hampshire County Clerk Sharon Link about the project. Armstrong is scheduled to meet with the County Commission late next month to discuss details of the microfilm and restoration work. Hampshire County Commission President John Dan Sitar requested the meeting. Apparently, Sitar wants to know more about the plans because the historic documents in question will have to be taken to Charleston. Link said Armstrong told her the work would take about six weeks. "He (Armstrong) said it was not feasible to transport and set up the microfilm equipment here," Link told commissioners last week. There are about 3,800 historic county estate records that will be placed on microfilm and repaired. The documents are now kept in the basement vault of the courthouse. They are kept folded in envelopes that are storwed in a metal file cabinet. Armstrong plans to have the documents preserved and stored in an unfolded fashion. Link explained that many of the documents are brittle and subject to damage when unfolded. "The state will undertake the project at no expense to the county", explained the county clerk. The county will also receive a copy of the mcrofilm and the documents will be returned to the courthouse. Link said having the documents on microfilm will greatly improve their availability to the public. The historic estate records are a popular item for genealogical researchers. ------------------- Just a note, the Hampshire County Library in Romney has a microfilm viewer with photocopy capability. These records on microfilm will be a tremendous boost for researchers of all kinds. I'll keep the list posted about further developments. Terry Gruber

Terry, Thanks for this good news. > OLD COUNTY RECORDS COULD HAVE BETTER FUTURE > by Michael O"Brien > > ROMNEY---State archive officials have offered to place old county > records dating to 1754 on microfilm, make needed repairs to those > documents and improve the way the originals are stored. Fred > Armstrong with the state archive department recently contacted > Hampshire County Clerk Sharon Link about the project. > It is great to know that they will be stored in a safe manner, no matter what kind of copies are made. I hope the microfilmer is highly skilled! I would think that two copies would be the best of all worlds, one digital and the other microfilm. Perhaps the digital copies can be made in the future when the documents are repaired and filed. It may be a matter of money. Margaret [email protected] Barbour County Genealogy Page: http://www.rootsweb.com/~wvbarbou Hardy County Genealogy Page: http://www.rootsweb.com/~wvhardy

Terry: If you can, please, please do not let them return paper records to the basement unless they prepare the space as an archive room with proper temperature controls. Mark See's idea for electronic digitizing also has great merit IF someone will fund. Mike Foreman Terry Gruber wrote: > Greetings folks---here is a transcription of an article that appeared in > yesterday's Hampshire Review. This is concerning the Colonial and > Early Republic era loose records that were stored in the Hampshire > County courthouse and were recently "rediscovered". > > OLD COUNTY RECORDS COULD HAVE BETTER FUTURE > by Michael O"Brien > > ROMNEY---State archive officials have offered to place old county > records dating to 1754 on microfilm, make needed repairs to those > documents and improve the way the originals are stored. Fred Armstrong > with the state archive department recently contacted Hampshire County > Clerk Sharon Link about the project. > > Armstrong is scheduled to meet with the County Commission late next > month to discuss details of the microfilm and restoration work. > Hampshire County Commission President John Dan Sitar requested the > meeting. Apparently, Sitar wants to know more about the plans because > the historic documents in question will have to be taken to Charleston. > > Link said Armstrong told her the work would take about six weeks. "He > (Armstrong) said it was not feasible to transport and set up the > microfilm equipment here," Link told commissioners last week. > > There are about 3,800 historic county estate records that will be placed > on microfilm and repaired. The documents are now kept in the basement > vault of the courthouse. They are kept folded in envelopes that are > storwed in a metal file cabinet. Armstrong plans to have the documents > preserved and stored in an unfolded fashion. > > Link explained that many of the documents are brittle and subject to > damage when unfolded. "The state will undertake the project at no > expense to the county", explained the county clerk. The county will > also receive a copy of the mcrofilm and the documents will be returned > to the courthouse. > > Link said having the documents on microfilm will greatly improve their > availability to the public. The historic estate records are a popular > item for genealogical researchers. > > ------------------- > > Just a note, the Hampshire County Library in Romney has a microfilm > viewer with photocopy capability. These records on microfilm will be a > tremendous boost for researchers of all kinds. I'll keep the list > posted about further developments. > > Terry Gruber