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Composed of the images of the pages of twelve books published by the Genealogical Publishing Company, this Family Archive CD covers the core genealogical works dealing with the Deep South. Altogether, some 150,000 individuals are named in a wide-ranging collection of census returns, probate records, marriage records, military records, vital records, and family histories, all brought together in this one CD with a single integrated index.

The majority of the books featured here deal with the early settlers of Alabama. Among them is a transcription of Alabama's only remaining 1820 census return. In addition, there is an index to wills, a collection of courthouse records, a list of Revolutionary War soldiers, and a collection of genealogies and family histories that originally appeared in a series of newspaper articles (Early Settlers of Alabama, by James Saunders).

Mississippi settlers are identified in three volumes of court records and in a volume dealing with Mississippi's participation in the War of 1812. Finally, early settlers of Arkansas are identified in the standard genealogical work on the state, Josiah Shinn's Pioneers and Makers of Arkansas. The following are the books included on this CD:

System Requirements: You must have a CD-ROM drive, and in order to read the CD you must use either the Family Archive Viewer (version 4.0 or higher), which is available as a free download at http://www.genealogical.com/content/dlfav6.html, or Family Tree Maker for Windows, version 4.0 or higher (Family Tree Maker software can be ordered from www.FamilyTreeMaker.com).

To access information on our Family Archive CDs using the Family Archive Viewer:

1. Install the Family Archive Viewer CD or download it from http://www.genealogy.com/dlfav6.html.
2. Start the Viewer if it is not already running
3. Insert the CD you wish to view into the CD-ROM drive. If you have 2 or more CD-ROM drives, the CD must be placed in the first one.
4. The CD should open automatically, but users of later versions of the Family Archive Viewer must click the CD/magnifying glass icon in the top toolbar (above the template in some versions) to read the CD.
5. When the screen entitled "About this Family Archive" appears, click OK where prompted.

To access information on our Family Archive CDs using Family Tree Maker:

1. Start your Family Tree Maker and open a Family File. (If the program is already running, skip to Step 2.)
2. Insert the CD in your computer's CD-ROM drive. (If you have 2 or more CD-ROM drives, the CD must be placed in the first one.)
3. From the View menu, select Family Finder, or select the Family Finder icon from the toolbar.
4. For FTM 2005, FTM 2006, or Version 16, you must go to the View menu, select Data CD, then View CD. For FTM 2008 or higher, you must download the Family Archive Viewer.

To search the CD for names, select the Search Expert button in the top right of your screen, then select "Search this archive for someone NOT from your Family File." You can also search for names by using the Index.

Note: If a window opens that contains a list of files on the CD, simply close it.