I'm looking for advice from those people who have transcribed numerous pages of Civil War records. Besides a good magnifying glass, what do you recommend to decipher flood-soaked pages? The right side of several pages show extensive water stains. I am using the records mainly for genealogy purposes, so you can imagine my disappointment when my ggg-grandfather writes his answer to when and where he married my ggg-grandmother and the ink is blurred from being wet. With a magnifying glass and one eye squinted shut, I can see the imprint of the original writing. But I can't be sure about what I think I see. Any tips from the experts?

Thanks, Connie