As of 21 Mar 1999, The Carlton Combs Letter of 1885 will no longer be considered documentation of the line of John and Sarah MABRY Combs, but will instead be "only for clues." As a result, this Combs Research Report has been temporarily removed pending corrections.

As noted here early last summer, the transcription of Carlton's letter (actually a transcription of a transcription of a transcription) is flawed, and although some errors have been "corrected," those corrections were themselves based on a transcription.

According to Researcher Dale Wilson (email dated 7/20/1998): "... answer to your request for the copy of the original letter... Good Luck! I can't even get dad or his siblings to agree to have it copied. I know the paper is VERY FRAGILE and they currently have it stored in a climate controlled setting where it can only be handled with soft cotton gloves..."

Although Dale himself has transcribed the letter (from the original), no copy of that transcription has been made available to Combs Research either. Moreover, even if a copy were provided, it would still be no more than yet one more unproofed transcription. At this point, anything less than the original itself would be suspect due to the too many versions already floating around.

This is an unfortunate circumstance, particularly given that even "soft cotton gloves" will damage the letter whereas a photograph would not only preserve it unto eternity, but allow it to be available to tens of thousands of descendants of John and Sarah MABRY Combs.

In the meantime, research continues and hopefully, even without the letter, it will be possible to document John and Sarah's descendants.

Sincerely,

Combs Research
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