Dear Fellow Researchers, In the last couple of days, I have recieved many e-lets which have embraced my advice about going to source documentation. Thank you for your approbation. Some of them have voiced a new-found disdain for the use of compiled and extracted data. An example snippet follows: >To think, I was going to buy some these items. From now on I'll >put my money into retrieving the actual documents. Just to temper my earlier words, somewhat, let me point out that compiled and extracted materials are EXTREMELY valuable in the sense that they point you to the sources from which you must obtain your primary and secondary evidence. You may find an entry, in a census index, that you think is connected to your ancestors. Certainly, you must go to the original record and obtain a copy of it for your records, but the INDEX is valuable, too, as it saved you from the hours and hours (often DOZENS of hours) spent looking at every census record in a county trying to find that ancestor, as many of us have had to do. In fact, it's often the index entry that even lets you know what COUNTY to look in. The same concept applies to other extracts and compilations. I have found such works as Everette J. Filgate's "Bovee and Bovie Families in America" unbelievably helpful, as they have taken YEARS off of my research time by giving me the information I need to quickly pinpoint individuals of interest and to go straight to the source of the evidence to obtain the documentation I need. In the case of the Filgate book, alone, I have been able to find over 60 individuals, all directly related to my lines, and to find the detailed vital records, land grant records, probate records, and other evidence simply because I had the extracted materials to work with and now knew the names, presumed relationships and locations of these people. My article wasn't meant to discourage you from using such sources; just to remind you to use them as an extremely important and valuable STARTING point for your research. Once these materials have pointed you in the right direction, you must follow up using the traditional methods I dicussed earlier. Regards, Byron Bray Vice-President, Linn Genealogical Society Linn County, Oregon Listowner: BOVEE-L list ([email protected]) [email protected]