Another great week is behind us and now we begin another full week at the archives. Last week was great because we were able to work every day and got our numbers back up where we had set a goal to be each week. It is interesting because the Hillsborough County records were set up completely different than the Rockingham County ones. In Rockingham County the records were all put together by decades so as we would go through the preparation and picture taking we would begin in say 1850 and complete the ten year time period and then begin in the 1860 records. We did this through 1919. In the Hillsborough County the person who set the up records decided to change it up a bit. When we first began, all the records from 1770 to 1850 were name changes for that whole time period, then once that was done we began the typical probate files. The minus of that is that those name changes were pulled out of the regular probate records and so there are often gaps in the number sequence which may cause people to think that a record is missing, but it is actually in another box of records. The plus is if you are only looking for a possible name change they are all together now and you don't have to go as far to find the name you may be looking for. The other change was that the records were set up alphabetically from 1770 through 1850. When we started, the last names that began with A we did them all for that 80 year time span. Once we completed the A we then started again in the B's doing the same thing. Again the minus may be that you will need to do a much more intense search because you have 80 years of records to look at because they are only using the first A and not alphabetizing the rest of the last name (So we may have an Adams and the next name could be Ashworth). The plus for us is that we get to see the records change quite quickly in information and style and history because we begin in 1770 and move quickly from there to the final year of the letter A which ends in 1850. Another interesting thing is the change in lettering. When we started in 1770 the s looks like an f when we begin then pretty soon it looks like the s we now use. A capital Q looks like a 2 and it takes real skill to discern between a W and an H. We have pretty much conquered the challenge. At this point we are in the L's and I think that we may just be able to finish the whole alphabet of probate files from 1770 to 1850 before we close up shop and head home. What a wonderful experience this has been for us. I would love to share some amazing discovering we found in our records like last year when Scott found the 1862 dollar bill which was in pristine condition and now valued at $175.00. But the truth is we have seen thousands of records of every day people doing every day things in spite of all the wonderful history that was going on around them during this time. We have loved this opportunity. Earlier in the week I was listening to the Mormon Channel and a Senior couple were being interviewed. He made the statement, "It was the hardest things we had so much fun doing." I knew exactly how he felt because although people often tell us they don't think they could do such a tedious task I know that we can do anything when know what we are doing is going to be so important to some family. They may just wants a little reminder that they are connected to a significant member of their family who lived hundreds of years before them and sacrificed much to remind them that they too can endure and endure well.
The weather has been very different from last year. We had one day of snow but since then we have only enjoyed occasional rain. Even though we have had a few days of under 10 degrees most of the time it has been a very balmy 39 degrees. I know there is more snow coming before we head home but so far so good. I won't complain either way and the thing I honestly look forward to the most is being able to put on my flip-flops again! By the time we reach Utah I am sure that I will.
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