Whenever it shall appear that the records or any material part thereof, of any county in this state, have been lost or destroyed by fire or otherwise so that a connected chain of title cannot be deduced therefrom, and are of record in any other county, or in any office maintained by the state or by the United States for recording and filing instruments, pertaining to or in any wise affecting the title, boundary or description of property situated within such county, then it shall be the duty of the board of county commissioners of such county, immediately to employ some responsible and experienced firm or person to transcribe or copy any part of the records, deeds, patents, certificates, maps, plats, field notes or files, from the records or files of such other county, or of any office maintained by the state or by the United States for recording and filing instruments pertaining to or in any wise affecting the title, boundary or description of property situated within the bounds of that county; and such copies or transcripts, when duly certified to by the persons employed, or officer in charge of such records shall become a part of the records in the register of deeds office of such county; and the record so made shall have the same force and effect as the record of the originals of such instruments, and the board of county commissioners shall approve, accept, and pay for the same as they are completed and delivered. The person or firm employed to do such copying or transcribing shall give the county a bond similar to bonds given by abstractors, in the sum of Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00).
R.L. 1910, § 7277.