Some courthouses and clerk's offices will not let you see certain records no matter how much you beg, plead, and cajole. At the Charlotte County Clerk's office deeds, wills, order books, and most tax records are readily available but don't bother to ask to see any of the supporting files, the answer will be "no." Chancery files, etc. have never been indexed, although a move is underway to do so now. They really have no idea what is in the dozens of boxes and they won't let you browse. A good place to learn about what is available to the public at individual clerk's offices is David Goodman's website "The Goodman Clearinghouse." http://www.bcpl.net/~dmg/goodman.html Click on "Courthouse Experiences." And please send your experiences to Dave -- every little bit helps. kathy To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-roots.html