Clearly State What It Is

My commentary on a digital copy of this 1983 will is not in proper citation form. That’s ok. The world will not end.

However…

It is important that my commentary or my own citation clearly indicate that the copy of the will that I have for my grandmother’s sister is the one that was in the collection of my Grandmother’s papers. I did not get it a copy of it directly (or indirectly) from the records of the court from where it was probated. I suspect the copy I have was sent to my Grandmother from the lawyer before it was admitted to probate as it does not contain information about when/where it was admitted to probate.

If I cite this copy of the will in my records (as it contains interesting gifts), I must indicate that I’m using the copy my Grandmother had and not a copy made from the copy that was admitted to probate. That’s not to say I doubt the validity of the copy I have. It is to say that I cite exactly what I have and how I got it.

Why do we sometimes cite records like this when there are originals in the “official” office? Because sometimes finances or other situations prevent us from getting that “original,” particularly if we have good reason to believe that what we have is a true reproduction of the “original.”

But we always cite what we use and what we have seen.