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I'm currently working with some Kanawha County, West Virginia Will Books, and came upon a new issue (for me at least). I'm working within a volume that spans 1859–1876, so I'm spanning the period that includes wills created when Kanawha was in the state of Virginia, as well as when it became West Virginia. The "container," the volume, is in the possession of West Virginia which is where I'd go to find it, but the will was created when it was Virginia. I've searched and searched both volumes of EE on how to handle this—would square brackets be the best approach? I want to indicate to the reader that the document was created in Virginia but is now held by West Virginia. As in:
Kanawha County, [West] Virginia, Will Book, Vol. 2: 34–8, will of John Smith, 3 October 1861; County Courthouse, Charleston. Kanawha County became part of West Virginia in 1863.
Am I over (or under) complicating this? Would a discursive note (as shown) after the first occurrence cover it?
*I did find the mention in…
*I did find the mention in 3rd Ed. of "Obsolete Names" [8.12], but wondered about that approach [short discursive note] with repeated use and application throughout a work product.
Hello, CuriosityCat. My…
Hello, CuriosityCat. My apologies for not seeing this sooner. Your bracketed addition of "West" handles the problem well. If you wish to add an explanation, it could be helpful to you and others. EE's one suggestion would be to replace "County Courthouse" with the name of the specific office that holds the records.