Many source document pages contain corner notations of
"ORIGINAL" or "COPY".
These notations refer to the generation and quality of the document copy used for archive and filming purposes.
For example, if the document copy acquired was an 11"x 14" photocopy of a land grant record from a public archive, it has been marked
"ORIGINAL" and the 8-1/2"x 11" photo-reduction copy used for filming is marked
"COPY"; an 8-1/2"x 11" certified death certificate acquired from a public agency has been marked
"ORIGINAL" but an 8-1/2"x 11" photocopy made of it to improve the readability or contrast would has been marked
"COPY" to indicate that a first generation copy is also in the collection.
Therefore, "COPY" indicates a second or later generation copy made;
"ORIGINAL" indicates a first generation copy, which may or may not be a true original document.
Some pages also contain corner notations of "CL" and
"PI" numbers; these are references to a correspondence log
(CL) and an inventory (PI) of books, microfilm and microfiche in the author's collection.
A "RN" number notation next to the name of an individual in a document indicates the record number of that person's compiled genealogical record in the lineage linked database.
The existence of an "RN" notation next to a name in a document is usually an indication that name has been indexed with reference to that document in the index database.
The absence of an "RN" notation next to a name in a source document is usually an indication that name has not been indexed with the document.
These source documents exist in two separate collections. The original hard copies are
housed in archive boxes in my workroom. Additionally, each page has been microfilmed on 35mm microfilm reel as well as microfiched.
Copies of these microfiche and microfilm sets are located in many places. See the sections titled
Publication and Distribution for places where these films are located and the people and libraries who have copies of the complete sets of film.
Some documents included in this group are difficult or impossible to read (before and after filming).
They represent the best reproduction that could be obtained by the author and have been included as a positive indication of their existence and to document where they can be located.
