Across from the Courthouse at the corner of Main and Third St, is a
relatively new repository: the Records Management Division
Archive
Library. This is a huge success that has not
gotten a lot of
publicity. However, it reflects such enormous progress, that
you need to know the history to appreciate the change.
If you have been researching in Clermont County for a few years, you
may have heard of the “Dungeon.” This
term referred to a damp, dusty, moldy, dark, sub-basement of
the courthouse, which was used to store over 600 of
Clermont’s oldest record books. Some of the books dated back to the
Old
Northwest
Territory, and these irreplaceable
genealogical treasures
were
disintegrating because of neglect. They were usually inaccessible to the public, because the doors were locked
and, for at
least a few years, you had to be escorted by an employee to go
down. This was done for safety reasons and because the books
were so fragile that they really did not want you to handle
them. If you were lucky enough to get in,
you
couldn’t stay long because the employee had other work to do,
and you couldn’t research anyway. It was
too dark
to read, the books were piled on each other in a disorganized fashion,
and there was no place to work.
For over twenty years, our members, along with other interested
citizens, attended records commission meetings, wrote letters, and at
one point, rescued some records that were being thrown out.
For a long time, complaints fell on deaf ears. With the onset
of the internet, genealogists from across the country, who had visited
Clermont County, complained about the “Dungeon” in
chat rooms and on mailing lists.
Eventually there were political changes, followed by
enormously hard
work on the part of county employees. A records
repository
was established at the old Williamsburg High School for a few
years. Then, it was moved to its current location and
FINALLY, all of those books were moved out of the
“Dungeon.” Before they could be brought
into the new Archive Library, all of them had to be checked (and if
necessary, treated) for mold. Some were in such decrepit
condition that they are in archivalboxes, instead of standing on the
shelves.
The process of restoration has begun, but will
progress slowly due to budget constraints. The
“Dungeon” is gone for good and we owe a great big
“thank you” to the recent
County Commissioners, the
Records Commission, and Barb Brown and her staff!
The books are now in a clean, environmentally-controlled space,
cataloged, and carefully placed on shelves in an organized
way. Before, nobody even knew what all was down
in that
sub-basement. Now, the Records Management Division has a full
inventory and Barb Brown, who is in charge there, has asked
Society
members for input on which are the most valuable for
genealogy. Preservation efforts will begin with
those. Some of the more exciting books would have to be the
indexes to divorces from 1850 to 1970. Also,indexes to
civil cases and criminal cases
Researchers can actually make use of the books now. This is
not a repository for those who like to browse through old records,
however. Few of the genealogical resources are
indexed. Before you go, know the record you want and
determine a narrow time period for it. Then check to see if
there is another source for the information, such as a microfilm in the
library. If there is another source, try to make use of it,
at least until the books are restored.
You should also call
ahead and make an appointment. The doors are not always open
to the public, since the employees are working hard on many
projects. If you do go, you will be asked to sign
in. And, you may need to wear archivist gloves.
Barb Brown tells us that the County Commissioners have budgeted the
money for a large, state-of-the-art, open-book scanner this year (with
auto-curvation, etc., to eliminate distortion and improve the image).
When the historic books are scanned and digitized, the images
will be
made available to everyone. Barb says that the ultimate goal
is to preserve the old records, but also to eventually get it all
online, free and accessible to the public. This preserves
the history, makes researchers happy, and makes employees jobs’
easier in the long run.