Greetings--- According to this week's Hampshire Review, loose papers, books, etc. stuffed in the basement of the Hampshire County courthouse have been discovered and listed by a volunteer, Bill Rice, from Elkins. Records date from 1739 through the Civil War. This is an important find for those of you researching colonial era ancestors, Hardy was Hampshire then. Just some names on documents: McKeever, Blue, Edwards, Parker, Rannels, Stump, Williams, Arnold, Pownall, and Ruckman. The documents include land records, estate settlements, miscellaneous receipts and bonds, clerk's notices, wills and appraisals. A promissary note, dated 1739, was made to a man, John Wood of Maryland, has been found. A sheriff's bond, dated 1757, was found for Henry Van Meter. Individuals will not be allowed to go through the documents, but an index will be available for researchers to request copies to be made by courthouse workers. There are fees involved for look-up and copies---check with the Hampshire County courthouse for details. Again, these "lost" records will fill in gaps for many people (I already know of a couple of researchers that have been to end a couple of years of research because of what was found) and many thanks to Mr. Rice for his daunting volunteer effort (he went through an estimated 30,000 documents). Terry Gruber