Mrs. Lynda Updike
President:  Southampton County Historical Society

Dear Mrs. Updike,

As you may know, the Brantley Association of America which I head, has 
undertaken the project to digitize and to facilitate the indexing of the early 
court records of Southampton County for the purpose of genealogy research as 
well as the advancement of historical research in the county.  While the 
digitizing of these records is nearing completion, the indexing of these will 
take a monumental effort.   There are some 58,000 pages of which will be 
abstracted, hundreds of thousands of name entries and the many landmarks 
identified in the various deed records.  The names will include every man, 
woman and child identified therein from 1749 through the mid 1880s.  The 
records include, Will Books, Court Order Books, Court Minute Books, Deed Books 
and Marriage Books as well as other, miscellaneous, documents. While it is a 
sizeable elephant, we are very encouraged with the progress seen in the first 
few weeks.  Although we have not formally announced the project until this 
writing, we have digitized over 46,000 images and have acquired volunteers to 
index 11 of the some 120 court books.  This represents nearly 10% of the 
indexing required and we reiterate that these volunteers have responded only 
from "word of mouth" and since we first arrived in Courtland on February 11th. 

We are hopeful that members of the Southampton County Historical Society will 
want to join in this remarkable project.  Southampton County will, as far as I 
know, be the first County in America to have all its records indexed from the 
mid 1700s through 1880.  We are appreciative of the insight and support of 
Probate Officer and Clerk, Mr. Richard Francis who is a native of this early 
Virginia County and recognizes the potential discovery of historical sites and 
the identity of many persons otherwise lost in the presently un-indexed 
records, found particularly in the Court Order and Minute books. 

Realizing the valiant effort of the participants, Mr. Francis has stated that 
within the covers of the respective Court Books will be forever shown the names 
of the participants who take part is the great undertaking.  Along with the 
ancient clerks and Court Officers whose entries go back to 1749, will be noted 
those who will have labored to bring from obscurity, many names, families and 
landmarks of early Southampton County.  It is fascinating enough to be able to 
read and extract the names from the early books and to get a glimpse of the 
lives and events of our forefathers here, but to be able to become part of 
history ourselves by this effort and the recognition of the custodians of these 
remarkable records, is truly astonishing. 

We are truly appreciative of Society member Bruce Saunders who has been "on 
scene" with us since our arrival and has guided us in locating the older books. 
Her diligence in maintaining a log of the books and pages digitized has been an 
important element during the project and her efforts have expedited the work.  
Bruce and Mr. Francis are among those who have volunteered to be "Book Project 
Managers" and will index, themselves, at least one book each.  These are among 
the same books which have lain in the Courthouse, without and index, for well 
over 250 years. 

We formally solicit the assistance also of your members, the members of the 
Southampton County Yahoo Group, and other interested parties associated with 
the Historical Society.  Please provide our e-mail and mailing address to these 
and make this letter available on your WEB site. We do hope many will take part 
in this historic venture. 

Sincerely, 

J. Kenneth Brantley
President:  Brantley Association of America
4650 Oakleigh Manor Dr
Powder Springs, GA 30127

brantleyassoc@bellsouth.net