The Sullivan County Library in Blountville, TN was the recent beneficiary of a generous donation by Pat Spurlock Elder, author of Melungeons: Examining an Appalachian Legend., a definitive work concerning the legendary dark-skinned people of the southern Appalachians.
Elder has donated most of her Melungeon research to the Sullivan County Library. When the cataloging is complete, researchers will have access to the large collection of materials amassed by Elder during her thirty years researching Southern families. At a later date, all the reels of Hancock County microfilmed court records, four reels of Grohse's work, the Chris Livesay microfilm and an original copy of Hamilton McMillian's work will eventually go to the library. About 150 or so reels of various microfilm have already been donated.
In addition Elder donated thirty years of Spurlock Family Association research. This is of interest not just to Spurlock researchers, but also to people with early connections to southwestern Virginia and northeastern Tennessee. The only Spurlock data retained was information that connects to Elder's direct line.
The library, located in Blountville, Tennessee, is one of the best genealogical research libraries around. Their genealogy room is small, but they have an extraordinary amount of material. Their website can be accessed here: http://www.wrlibrary.org/Sullivan/ . Copy services for the materials is or will be available for any of the above items.
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