I am new to the List; hello to all. From List archives back in July '04, with reference to DAY researchers, Karen computed the distances between towns in DE, MD, and PA --noting that it's not very far from one place to another in these three states. She was making the point that we need to look a little farther sometimes for records of our ancestors. I read also that some Delaware records are actually found in Maryland archives. BUT Don't forget water travel, and think also of Southern NJ! There's good evidence that people sometimes travelled across the Delaware River just to go to church. I have a few families who lived on both sides of the Delaware River/Bay at various times. I was born in south Jersey but have families from PA, DE, and MD as well as from all over NJ and some coming down from New York. I'm finding cencus records for the same families first on one side of the river, then ten years later, living on the other. My grandfather remembered skating across the Delaware in winter to visit his intended bride in NJ, back in the 1920's, before they built the bridge at Philadelphia, before many people had cars anyway. NJ archives are also nicely transcribed --don't forget to check there too if you're stumped. Back soon with a few of my own puzzles for you all. Best wishes Liz J

I agree about the proximity of several states in this region. In researching my Matthews family of Odessa, DE, I never thought of looking in Kent County, Maryland. In the 1870's, after the peach blight, my ancestor Francis Matthews moved his family to Somerset County, MD. Several of his relatives went west to the area north of Chestertown, MD. The two branches of the family lost track of each other and we only rediscovered each other in 1998, thanks to a query placed in a DE genealogy publication! Marilyn Matthews Lear