Message text written by INTERNET:[email protected] >be able to tie into one of these lines. That is where sharing information really comes in handy. You never know who might have that missing link. Why try to do all the research back to 1640 when it has been done before - possibly many times.<<<<<<<< P.S. to my last response, This is true only where there is a very definite *paper trail* which can be verified - usually in the case of well-known families etc. However, we must always remember that there is also an element which, albeit unintentional and well-meaning where the person tracing their genealogy is overly anxious to do this in a hurry and will add people to his/her chart before having thorough checked the data. For instance, you probably are aware of the work the Mormon church has done when it comes to genealogy. They probably have more data than any other source, including volumes of *Ancestral Files*. In all cases they have printed the words of caution, see below:-. "About Ancestral File: Ancestral File is a collection of genealogical information taken from Pedigree Charts and Family Group Records submitted to the Family History Department since 1978. The information has not been verified against any official records. Since the information in Ancestral File is contributed, it is the responsibility of those who use the file to verify its accuracy. " Last night I went to that website once again in the hope that maybe I'd find *something on my Thomas Davenport (Rev) who was born in Siddington, Cheshire in 1722, AND, yes, there is an Ancestral Filea there which we have been tempted, and very much hoping that this is his family. The name is right, - the place (Siddington) is right, all the siblings' names match those of our Thomas' children, but then I see that he was married twice, and not to *our gggggg-grandmother.- So, what to do? Is this the right (our) Thomas and someone entered the wrong wives? Or, is it an entirely different Thomas who also lived in Siddington (a very small place, especially in the late 1600s) at the very same time, who had a son Thomas at the very same time and used the same names (at the very same time). Let's quote Reagan here .......... " Accept, but VERIFY". <SM> Winn