HI ALL (and Steve) I just today received my Bowie book (can be any of your family name books) from Halbert's in Bath, OH. Well, for one, it does list every Bowie on the Census records in order by state (1790-1910), first name, County, Locality, Roll number (Census), Page & No, which if anyone hasn't bought the $200.00 worth of CD's from Family Treemaker, this would be a great tool in finding all your kin on the Census records. For the time it has taken me to write down ALL my Bowie's & go to the library & copy the pages, this book would have saved me hours of searching the FTM Census CD's. They also give some pretty interesting facts, too. Like where the Bowie's were in the US (Population schedules) during the different Census years. Then, all the addresses of every Bowie in the US (which now, yes, we can get this on the web, but this was probably an invaluable tool before we could access the web), and NOW I have a full printout of everyone, but no phone numbers. They give Surname Registers in the US, Reunion Committees, Genealogical Socieities, Major Research Libraries, and Immigration Research Centers, all with addresses & phone numbers. Several stories are included like what happpened during the Migration West ! All in all... I find the $41.36 (with postage & handling) was money pretty- well spent, as I have ALL my Bowie's organized into one book, with quite a bunch of research info ALSO organized into one book. I don't know anywhere that stated this was a leather-bound book, as it is a paperback, which I expected when I ordered it. So, it's not a huge book on Bowie's, but I'm happy with it, as it DOES finally organize all my Bowie info in one place.... Laurie Ann (Kozelka) Bieber Sarasota, FL =========================== In a message dated 98-04-23 23:48:26 EDT, you write: << >.I just got a brochure from a publisher in Bath, Ohio,< To All... Save your money. The Eastman Newsletter ran a series of articles on Halberts two or three years ago. They have been in trouble with the Post Office for fraudulant advertising and are at it again with very carefully written mailouts. Basically what you get is a listing of every Beall, (or Baskin, or Kraus, or ...) in the U.S. Also there is some general background on people through history with the same name, but no genealogical content at all. In fact, the info concerning the area where the Eastman's settled, he says, is not even true. Also, the "leather grained cover" or however it's worded is, I believe, cardboard or something with a "grain" embossed into it. (It's been a while since I read the article). There seems to be a rash of these mailings lately, since I've been asked twice already in person. My rule of thumb: send your money to Bath, and you'll wind up taking one. (OK, it's late, but it seemed funny at the time) Steve Kraus >>