I would be pleased to subscribe to a list consisting of the Zimmerman/Carpenter German lines as there is apparently no common ancestor of all of the warring factions here. If we were all "cousins" the in-fighting would be a bit more tolerable. At first I was amused but now I am growing annoyed. I subscribe to at least 20 genealogy lists and this one's snobbery issues is far more volatile than Protestant/Catholic issues (which flare as you can imagine) on an Irish list to which I subscribe. At least that has a societal mirror. But what is an American Carpenter? Mine were not Carpenters till they came to America. But there are many other American Carpenters with whom I share no common ancestry. I'm not sure if that's the solution, either. Martha HARDCASTLE GUTHRIE Fourth-great granddaughter of Barbara ZIMMERMAN/CARPENTER, daughter of Christian and wife of Peter SEITZ/SIDES. At 07:06 PM 9/10/99 -0400, Robin Carpenter wrote: > If we could have a list dedicated just to American Carpenters, there >would still be differences, but the level of documentation and knowability >would be much higher. I would hope. > How 'bout it, listmaster? > Robin Martha HARDCASTLE GUTHRIE "The cheese stands alone" You can see my pathetic wobbly first web page at: http://hometown.aol.com/lofiwoman/myhomepage/index.html Coming soon! Martha's "I Used to be a Babe" page!