The Tri-County Journal
& Chattahoochee Chronicle
PO Box 850, 71 Webb Lane
Buena Vista, GA 31803
229-649-6397
tjournal@alltel.net

By LINDA ADAMS
(From the August 16, 2006 issue)
   Magistrate Judge Larry Wall had known that there were old documents stored in a closet above the stairwell that led down into the depths of the Schley County Courthouse basement. One day, earlier this summer, he opened the door and took out a paper to examine. It just happened to be a document relating to his family! Realizing that there was information of historical interest in the stored papers, he went about retrieving them.  
   A trustee was given the task of taking the documents out of the closet and putting them into plastic bags. There were also documents stored in the basement that were retrieved at the same time. In all there were some seven big bags of decomposing paper sitting in Wall’s office awaiting inspection.
   Fortunately, two gentlemen were about to come to Schley County to the Murray family reunion. These two men, Harris and Keith Hill, second cousins, have neither one ever lived in Schley County, but their ancestors did, and their interest in and knowledge of Schley County history, plus their expertise, made them perfect candidates to go through and examine the documents.
   Because of the state of decomposition due to insects and humidity, many of the papers