Dear fellow genealogists, It is fascinating to talk to you and exchange the Beall information. I appreciate, especially Greg for his liking to be well documented! I learned some interesting things this last weekend that may be of some help to us all. At least it may keep us on a straight and narrow path, which is almost impossible to accomplish in the case of the famous "Bealls". I received a letter from the Editor of the Beall Genealogical News in Portland, Oregon. Excerpts from that letter are as follows: "We get so many letters from people who have been given the wrong Beall genealogical data over the Internet." "Now then. We do not know what list you are referring to when you say that Sarah Beall b. 1636 in Scotland was a sister of Col. Ninian (b. 1625) & dau. Of Dr. James Beall. Bull! There is no documented evidence to prove that Ninian was a son of that man. It is just something that has been passed down and repeated. Alexander Graham Beall hired Scottish genealogists and historians to try and determine Col. Ninian Beall's ancestry. His ancestry, siblings, or supposedly other wives, could not be proven and still have not been. Because parish records before 1640 were poorly (and in many parishes never) maintained it is doubtful that the truth will ever be known. [In 1640, only an estimated 5% of Scottish parishes were actually keeping registers of baptisms, burials & marriages.] " "The parentage of Sarah Beall who married Samuel Magruder has never been proven. She and her sister Mary (who mar. John Pottenger) came over from Scotland in 1675 with the Rev. Nathanial Taylor. But she is not and never will be either a daughter or a sister of Col. Ninian Beall. They may have been nieces." "Samuel Magruder was the second son of Alexander Magruder. He was born, in 1654, in Calvert co., Maryland. This is fact. His father was in Maryland in 1653 where he was assigned land that year." "Please do not rely on Internet gossip and/or family genealogies unless the data is backed by primary sources, not heresay." I, Beverly would like to make a suggestion to the Beall researchers: Let us all step back and rethink our collection of "Bealls". Start from the closest relative and make sure we have a primary document such as birth, marriage or death certificate copy or well documented book reference. Then work back documenting each and every one of the ancestors. It seems there is a different list of children in every list I have seen. That gets to be too interesting. Did you know even Birth certificates can be incorrect. My own father's was incorrect, at least that is what the family says. He was one of the younger children and his 18 year old sister was there when he was born. The Doctor who delivered him wrote down the name of his Grandfather as the Father. Of course the only one who really knew was his mother. So in that case, maybe I am my own Grandma. Ha Ha. I apologize for my "speculation" about the Bealls and which one married my Francis WATTS, if any. The entire thing about the Three Sarah Bealls is being trashed. The only purpose I can see in speculation is for the sake of sorting out enough to have a general idea where to look for one's ancestors and whether it is even worth a look. So I have to disagree with the Editor of the Beall News in the respect that without our exchange of information and speculation we wouldn't never find our way out of the maze. At least we can gain enough information from each other and ideas that we can sort of organize our own thinking and in that way try to figure out the mess. When there is NO answer like in the case of Col. Ninian's parentage, then we can let that go and concentrate on what is truly documented! IF we put something on the NET we should always include Documentation information!! IF it is speculation - say so. Let's exchange some really meaningful things from now on. At least I will try to do my best. Take care Beverly