My wifes maiden name was BATES. Her father, who just passed away at 90 years old, researched his line for some years. It goes like this: Eli Bates, born c. 1793 Vermont his son: George Washington Bates, born 1820 Schuyler Falls, NY his son: Charles Mason Bates, born c 1855 Schuler Falls, NY his son: Ross Charles Bates, born 1882, Sturgeon Bay, WI his son (and my father-in-law) Hall Mason Bates, born 1907, Cairo, IL. He has a lot of collateral lines, which I have loaded in the computer program. L. E. Jarrell, High Point, NC