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Archiver > ILHAMILT > 2003-09 > 1063953900


From: "John & Sandra Brandt" <>
Subject: [ILHAMILT-L] Hamilton County Marriage
Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2003 01:45:00 -0500


I am so glad someone had the strength to stand up against the many cheap
shots that have been hurled at the Hamilton Co. Clerk and Courthouse staff.
The records in the Hamilton Co. Courthouse have been handled professionally
and with the same, "rules of conduct, extended to all researchers. These
records are safe and intact because of the protections extended by this
courthouse staff, and are in a remarkably excellent state because of these
protections. I am not so sure that I would like to see the LDS come in and
package Hamilton Co. on a $30 disc. I wish all of you might have the
opportunity to visit McLeansboro, IL. and meet the very nice, and helpful,
people in the Hamilton Co. Courthouse. You don't believe everything you read
coming out of Salt Lake City, don't believe everything you read on the net!
Sandy


-----Original Message-----
From: [mailto:]
Sent: Thursday, September 18, 2003 11:25 PM
To:
Subject: Re: [ILHAMILT-L] Hamilton County Marriage



I just have to put in my two-cents-worth.

I also was looking for an 1870's marriage record in Hamilton County several
years ago, probably ten or so, with the same result - it wasn't there. I was
told that an earlier clerk had allowed researchers to look through the
records
themselves, and some of the records had "gone missing". Probably at least
part
of what prompted the "hands off policy" for all but the clerks. If you have
ever visited a court house and watched some researchers (none of us, of
course)
"shuffling" through records, particularly probate records, with the contents
of more than one file spread out on a table, then the frantic stuffing of
the
records back into the files when it was time to go, with no regard as to
where
they belonged, it makes you wonder how any records can be found at all. In
one court house in Illinois (no, not Hamilton County) I found the contents
from
the probate files of three brothers so intermingled that it was almost
impossible to decide which records belonged to which brother. Unfortunately,
in the
1800's they weren't big on putting names of the desceased on all the probate
papers, and these were all large files. In another Illinois court house, I
was
told that a marriage record I was looking for had fallen prey to an
infestation
of mice in the basement where the records were stored. Thank goodness the
marriage index was still in one piece.

My point? Let's be thankful that so many records are available to us. It
amazed me when I got a copy of a 1780 marriage record from Virginia,
including the
hand written permission note.

Phyllis


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