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Volume 3, Number 3 - March 2000, page 1 James Atkins, Editor To: Society Members and Friends, The March meeting of the Historical Society will be held at the Surry Recreation Center on Monday March 13, 2000 at 7:00 P.M. Please mark your calendar.
Lee Fudge and Clarence and Lilly Fields provided outstanding and timely displays of their families' histories, with special emphasis on those who served in the War between the States. The March Meeting: Dennis Hudgins will speak on his research of Surry County Records. Dennis brings to Surry County extensive skills in the research and transcribing of old records. He has transcribed the last four Cavaliers and Pioneers, and another is ready for publication. These books are the bible in researching land patents of Virginia. He has taken the lead in mapping Virginia counties to these early land patents and grants. Perhaps a third of Virginia counties are now being mapped using the computer program he helped pioneer. Ultimately we hope to have the entire state in a data base in the Library of Virginia and accessible via the Internet. Dennis reads our oldest records like a newspaper. His interest has no limits. His presence in Surry is a great asset, especially in our efforts to preserve the county's history. We will have displays of some of the important records we have collected.
Of great importance is a group of loose papers on registration of free blacks recently found in the Clerk's office at the courthouse. To be registered, free blacks had to have a note or letter signed by a white person attesting to their freedom, or return an earlier pass. These papers often contained information on their families and the person who freed them.
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