Barry:
One excellent source of "how-to" is Cyndi's List: Just click on this URL
http://www.cyndislist.com/ which (if you're on-line) will bring up
hundreds of connections to look at, places to search.
Since you have specific states in mind, one thing you should do before your
visit, is to check RootsWeb for the states and counties in which you want
to research.
1.Go to the RootsWeb main page
http://www.rootsweb.com/
2. Scroll down to Research Templates. Click on United States. That brings
up a screen with all the state abbreviations. Click on MO, KS, or TX.
3. That will bring up a screen with the counties within that states, a blue
(clickable) list, and at the bottom of the list, "I don't know what county"
if you don't know.
For example, I clicked on Missouri, and this came
up:
http://resources.rootsweb.com/USA/MO.html
Then I chose the first listing, Adair County. It brought up a screen which
had three listings: Adair County, Missouri GenWeb - Genealogy for Adair
County Missouri, but there was nothing there. I went back and chose the
next one down: Adair Co. MO Genealogy. This took me to a page with Adair
information. Just click on the blue highlighted ones, and if it doesn't
serve your purpose, use "Back" at the top of your screen (Netscape, MS
Explorer, whatever you use).
If there is a county website, you may find information on where the court
records are kept, hours, etc. etc. Often libraries in the area are listed
(some have websites), so you may be able to contact them by e-mail to
inquire about where you could find records.
Have fun! Jean Chapman Snow