Thanks, Langdon; great research advice.  It was Sharon's question
that I passed along.  I might add that while records were seldom
moved from the couny seat in which such were originally created and
housed, one must be careful, since when an area such as those in
PA/VA of which we speak, as well as those that were the subject of
the TN/KY and the OH/MI boundary decisions, the records often were
filed in both states in order that any questions of land taxes,
estates, and litigation might be more easily resolved.  Per e.g.,
where land thought to be in KY was the subject of litigation or of
an estate proceeding in the KY State courts, an immediate problem
arose of that tract was determined to be in TN and therefor within
the jurisdiction of the TN court.  Each such case was dealt with
based on the facts of that particular litigation.  Stillconfused,
Sharon?  LOL   Thanks again, Langdon.  Paul

----- Original Message -----
From: Langdon Hagen-Long
Subject: Re: Fw: Early Virginia (including southwest Pennsylvania)

<<How about it, PA researchers, where are the records pertaining to
those areas of VA that became PA, and vice-versa?  Paul>>

Paul, In almost all cases, records are stored where they were
formed.  For instance, if a family lived in what was then VA,  the
records were kept by VA, even when the area later became PA. [and
vice versa]
Specifically, the records of Monangalia were formed by the District
of Augusta,  and the records can still be found among Augusta
records.
There are a few exceptions to this rule- for instance,  inj one
case, someone made off with the records of VA, when they moved to
KY.  It is best to check the area where the records were formed,
which are centrally located in the archives of VA. [or PA, KY, TN,
etc] If you don't find the records in the correct time period, you
can then research where they are, or whether or not they have been
destroyed by war, fire, etc.
For some counties which no longer exist, like Old Rappahannock, you
can check the counties that were formed from a county that no longer
exists.  Rappahannock records were moved to Lancaster.
While the general rule is to check the years you are looking for and
use the county that existed at that time,  there are a few
exceptions, which can be ckecked in a referrence book, such as
"Handybook for Genealogists". [Everton Publishers]  And
occassionally, records exist in local courthouses that were not
copied for the state archives.
Hope this helps.
Langdon Hagen-Long

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