I've approached this several ways. I've phoned, I've written, I've e- mailed, and I've written to local newspapers (and had the letters published saying I was looking for descendents of specific people). I've been on the receiving end of the calls, letters and e-mails as well. If you have some family details from a prior generation that no one but a relative could know, it helps with your credibility (i.e. I'm a descendent of Molly Jones Attcliff who was born in Albany in 1870, and I think her son Jimmy Attcliff might be a relative of yours. Am I on the right track?). Sometimes I've gotten the reaction that they don't know much family history, but they'll refer me to another family member who is a genealogy buff. I even got a cold call from a guy in Australia looking for Canadian relatives. Turned out we weren't related, but I was able to hook him up with the same surname family he WAS related to. He's been to visit us twice now, and we always get cards from him at Christmas. I can't imagine turning someone away if they know enough details about the family in question to make them credible. I've rarely gotten a rebuff. Most people are really interested. Surprisingly, the local newspaper gambit has worked great a couple of times. I discovered a whole nest of relatives none of us knew about in a smaller Scottish town that way (plus it was WAY fun to get excited long distance calls from Scotland in response to my published letter). Mary G.