Just last week I reviewed the book Courthouse Research for Family Historians: Your Guide to Genealogical Treasures in the article A Thorough Vetting of Courthouse Research. Thus, I found the timing on the follow article, I saw this week, on courthouse research most interesting:
Genealogy Today: My romance with courthouses
By Betty Lou Malesky
I love courthouses, the older the better. I love walking up the stone steps in the shallows worn by thousands of footsteps before mine. I love opening the 10-foot-high doors for the first glimpse into the dark, cool interior with marble floors and huge marble columns.
I love entering into the sanctuary of lawyers, judges and clerks of long ago, their footsteps echoing along with mine as I walk across the wide central lobby. I even love the security guards at the door these days, as I know they are protecting the documents I so want to find. If you’ve never been to an ancestor’s courthouse, I urge you to take the plunge. For now, just follow me.
I head for the clerk’s office on a mission to find another ancestor or two, maybe more, one never knows. As I enter the office, the clerk looks up warily, another disruption in her busy day.
I tell her I am doing research in the early records from 1790 to 1880. Relieved, she points to a door behind the counter, and says, “All the books are in there.” Off I go, to my favorite inner sanctuary.