Another research point to keep in mind is that there are different records for different time periods and localities, so it is extremely important to learn the sources for that era and place. For example, you won't find federal census records prior to 1790 so if you are researching int he 1600s that records is not a source for you. Likewise, if you are researching in Wyoming in the 1870s you may find a voter registration on your female ancestor, since woman suffrage was passed there in 1869; but you won't find a voter list for women in Vermont until the Nineteenth Amendment was passed in 1920 (see Voter Lists and Registrations, page 26) You may find an index such as the Charles R. Hale Collection of the connecticut State Library that records early cemetery inscriptions and newspaper notices for that state. Other states may not have such a collection. It is beyond the scope of this book to discuss all the different types of sources available but in Appendix C you will find a detailed source checklist of common nd uncommon records. General genealogical guidebooks as listed in the introduction and bibliography will give you the background information you need to located and use these historical records. The emphasis here will be on records that give you specific information on women. ...though you may not find each and every type of record on your women ancestors or their associates, the source checklist in AC is provided to remind you of potential sources and to give you ideas for possible records. Never dismiss a record because you haven't heard any family stories or haven't discovered something in another record that would lead you to believe an ancestor would be in that document. For instance, many women petitioned for divorce, but it was never granted. A former client happened upon a divorce petition for her grandmother in the 1870s. Although the woman claimed extreme physical cruelty form her husband - being beaten, choked, whipped with an ox whip, and being threatened that he would get rid of her by chopping her head in two, the divorce was never granted....(well that's interesting..remember Catherine and John in Newberry...maybe they didn't get a divorce after all, that's why the records seem incomplete) ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com