A simple correspondence log. Letter Writing 101 Letter writing seems to be something of a lost art. We can thank the telephone for that in part. With the advent of e-mail, however, people write short, informal, electronic notes. These are, for the most part, throwaway correspondence.
Few people print e-mail and fewer still maintain hardcopies in a file.
Government entities, however, are still paper intensive. It is incumbent for these agencies to maintain paper copies or microfilm images in files for extended future references. That makes our work as genealogists possible. In order to obtain copies of any records maintained in government locations, such as courthouses, vital records bureaus, state archives, etc. A well-written letter can open many doors, and an SASE encourages expedient replies.