If you would like to join our list of volunteers for this project, please let me know!

Hello Howard County researchers:

Because of the hard work and generosity of Bob Hix and Ed Dougherty of the Howard County Genealogical and Historical Society, I have some very exciting news to share with you. These wonderful guys have taken their digital cameras into the Howard County courthouse and made digital images of the Howard County Will Index from 1816 - 1975!

We need to build an electronic database for this index so it can be easily searchable. To be able to accomplish this task, I NEED YOUR HELP. Would you please consider transcribing a few pages for this project? If you are willing to help us, read the information below for current volunteers to see what is involved. Then please e-mail me telling me that you would like to join our efforts.

When this project is finished, a copy of this database will be placed on-line in the Howard County portion of the USGenWeb Archives and a copy will also be sent to the Howard County Genealogical and Historical Society. Also, if this project goes well, they have also sent digital images of the Marriage Index! The sooner we can get this Will Index finished, the sooner we can get started on the Marriage Index!

First of all, thank you so much for participating in this project. I really feel that this is the start of some really good joint projects between the Howard County Genealogical and Historical Society (HCGHS) and our MOHOWARD-L group. This will be a wonderful addition to the Howard County portion of the USGenWeb Archives and the HCGHS. What a great way to honor our ancestors that once lived in Howard County! Again, thank you. Also, I would be remiss if I didn't thank Bob Hix and Ed Dougherty again. Without all of their hard work in photographing the will index, we wouldn't even be doing this project.

To look at the sample page, click here. For those of you that haven't experienced deciphering these old handwritten documents, click here for a page that will give you tips for reading this beautiful, but sometimes difficult to read, handwriting.

As you can see from the sample page, there is information on the left side and the right side. Complete all of the entries on the left side, then the transcribe the right side. Within each side of entries , you will find: 1) name, 2) roll number, 3) another number (I'm not sure if this is the instrument number or a page number, we'll determine this later.) I don't need you to type headings on your file. I just wanted you to notice what they are.

I know that you probably have alot of questions, so I'm going to try to answer some of your questions before you ask. If I overlook something or you have additional questions, drop me a note at [email protected]

What type of program should I use to transcribe this data?
Any word processing program that you feel comfortable with. I prefer them typed in WordPad or NotePad, but I am also familiar with WordPerfect and Microsoft Word. Any program will work as long as you can save the document as an ASCII text file. (NOTE: if you use Microsoft Word, please save as version 6.0 before you send it to me.)

How will I get the information to transcribe?
I will start out sending everyone two pages from the index. These are image files with the .jpg file extension. I will attach these files to an e-mail message to you.

How do I format my transcribed data?
Type the left side of entries followed by the the right side. Within the left side of entries, you will have three columns of information. Within these three columns, I don't need the information to line up. If you want to set your tabs so the information will line up, that's fine, but it won't do me any good when I receive the file. Please place only one TAB between each column. I know this may not look very pretty on the page, but I will be transferring all of this to a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and if you put more than one tab between columns it will not align properly. See below for the keystrokes for the first 3 lines of the sample image.

   Adkisson, Milton, Dec'd[TAB]Roll 65[TAB]2628[ENTER]
   Avery, C.L.[TAB]Roll 65[TAB]2684[ENTER]
   Autry, Roy Robert, Minor[TAB]Roll 66[TAB]2748[ENTER]
   Aspelmier, Fred [TAB]Roll 66[TAB]2785[ENTER]
   Alexander, Sallie, Decd.[TAB]Roll 6?[TAB]2827[TAB]**[ENTER]
   and so on until you finish with the left side of entries, then proceed transcribing the right side of entries

Obviously, you will press the TAB key instead of putting the word "[TAB]" and likewise you will press the ENTER key instead of putting the word "[ENTER]". (At least it is that way on the PC's, MAC users may have a different key other than the [ENTER] key???) Again, I know that this information will not line up in pretty columns for you, but please only place one TAB between columns.

What if I have trouble reading or deciphering the information?

I know that these images in the second phase are more difficult to read than the first phase. Place a ? where you could not read the information and add a fourth column with two ** in it at the end. (See the last entry on the example above.) The members of the Howard County Genealogical Society have agreed to help read the troublesome spots. If it is the handwriting that is giving you problems, visit Deciphering Old Handwriting or Old Handwriting Samples and see if these pages can help you.

What if I find a word (including a surname) that is not spelled correctly?
Transcribe the information exactly as it appears. I know that we have probably all found our ancestor's name spelled incorrectly at some point, but we need this index to reflect what the original document shows - misspellings and all.

Do I need to insert the information instead of using the ditto marks or "?
YES. If you find ditto marks (") in the entries, repeat the information used on the line above it. The reason is that when I merge all of these files together for the alpha list, the information needs to be there.

How do I view these image files?
These image files are graphic files just like the sample image page that you viewed with your web browser. If you have a graphics program you can probably view those images with it by just clicking on it (depending on your configuration) or by saving to your hard drive and then opening them with your graphics program. If you don't have a graphics program (or even if you do), you can also save the images to your hard drive and open them with your web browser. (I usually open these .jpg files in my web browser because it seems load quicker.) If you have never opened a local file in your web browser before, instead of typing in an address of "http:...." just put "c:/will001.jpg" (Of course, you will need to replace will001.jpg with the actual filename of the file that I send to you. If you have trouble with this, drop me a note.

Do I need to proofread the file before I send it to you?
YES. We want this index to be as accurate as the original. This shouldn't take very long to do and it will save me alot of time.

After I transcribe the file, how do I send it to you?
Attach the file to an e-mail and send it to me at: [email protected]
Also, please make sure in your e-mail to me that you tell me the filenames of the images that you transcribed. This will make my job alot easier so I can check off the files that have been completed.

Can I request more pages to transcribe after I have finished my first two?
YES! You can have as many as you want! I'd like to keep it down to just sending two files at a time though because the file size of these images are kind of large. I certainly don't want to fill up your mailbox!

Can I delete the old images from my hard drive when I have finished transcribing forwarded the file to you?
Yes. I don't need the old image files back. I am only sending you copies.

Other questions?
Send me a note at: [email protected]

Thank you again for volunteering! I've said it before and I'll say it again....The Howard County researchers are the BEST group of researchers I have ever had the opportunity to work with!

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