- I'll scan the records myself. This will require two scans per record and I will stitch them together using Gimp. By scanning them myself, I will save money and will get spend more with each individual document.
- As I scan each record, I will read over them and look for valuable information. I'll take notes on anything of interest to save myself time in the future when I go back to find it.
- Save the new digital files to my computer and back them up on a flash drive.
- Eventually, upload the images to my Flickr account and tag them in a way that will allow other researchers to find them. I'll also highlight the most interesting documents here on my blog.
So far, I've scanned and edited five pages. The fifth page happens to be Frank's will. This document was recorded in May 1864 - perhaps when Frank was heading off to war? The rest of his estate records seem to start in November of 1865 and, given the wording of his will, I don't believe Frank was dying when he wrote this. From this document I have concrete evidence of Frank's middle name, Edwin, and that he referred to his wife as Julia Ann - not Julian or other variations that I've seen. The will was also witnessed by men named Crapps, which was his wife's maiden name.
[Image reproduced from microfilm in South Carolina Department of Archives and History, Columbia, S. C. Lexington County Estate, Box 17, Pg 3, FR 273-368. Estate File of F. E. Leaphart, E1965.]
3 comments:
Wow, it sounds like you have a lot of work. Hopefully you continue to find more new and useful information!
Have you considered instead of scanning, PHOTOGRAPHING the documents. I did a bit of testing and a nice discussion came out of the post on my blog about just this.
http://www.reflectionsfromthefence.com/2010/06/nope-not-scanned-doc-photographed-doc.html
I have scanned and stitched documents, but, I find this much easier, I am not so good at stitching.
I have done with legal sized pages, like the death record shown on that post.
Happy Blogiversary!! 3 years, is fabulous!
Great idea, and great comment, too, Carol! I was sitting here wondering if I could drag my scanner to the courthouse - to save both money and time, too, in the long run, but before I shell out a bunch of $$$ I think I will try photographing the documents and see how they come out. Some time back, before I drowned my HTC Smartphone, I saw an app that would let you photograph a document and turn it into a .pdf. I'll have to see if I can find that app for my new SmartPhone!
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