GLORIA'S
OCONTO COUNTY
RESEARCH
SUGGESTIONS
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2. Register of Deeds. BE SURE YOU HAVE A PENCIL.
The rule makes a lot of sense, since they do not want you near the
indexes
with a pen, accidental marks with a pen cannot be erased.
Also with working the indexes, writing down all volume and record
numbers for birth, marriage and deaths you are looking for before
going
to microfiche speeds up the process. Better yet, take your list
home
sort by type, Volume and record number, and go back the next day.
You
can go through the microfiche a lot faster working one volume at a
time
with record numbers in order .
3. Wills and court cases. Be prepared to stand.
No arrangements have
been made for a person to sit down and view film. A slower process
as the clerks have
to pull the microfish for you and you may have to return in order to
view a certain item. It may be better to go in one day, find
what you
want, talk to the clerk, and give them time to pull the film.
The film
can be very difficult to read. Cost $1.00 per sheet for copied
documents.
Also, They are more hesitant to give out records. It took
three trips to get
all but one of the items I originally went in to view. For Wills which
researchers have been told are not be available, write the head of probate
and make a request from the judge. In my case, first they said it was sealed,
I had proof with me I was direct descendent and when I was there they said
it could not be found.
Also, I think obtaining a list of what is available in Register of
Deeds
would be helpful. One group was researching old school records,
which I
did not know were available. Also they have incorporation papers
(towns and villages), plus
the obvious land records.
The trip was a real learning experience. It is hard to concentrate
on
what you went for. It is easy to get side tracked on something
you
think might fit. We went in with priority lists. We tried
not to get
side tracked until we completed those, it worked most of the time.
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