After you have gathered miscellaneous information concerning collateral lineages and still don't have sufficient answers to tie in your own progenitor, it is time to organize. 1. Create a Miscellaneous Database. Information from scraps of paper should be typed into a database, so that it can be sorted, and you can have "finger-tip" information when you need it. This will enable you to quickly tie together distant family members. Too, it is easier to "see" where people belong. Normally, one suspects that persons residing in the same county with the same surname are related, especially if they were all born in the same state. 2. Make comparisons. For example: You are looking at the surname Franklin on the 1850 Rockingham Co., Va. Census. Some of them were born in Pa. Time to calculate on each one of them the time they migrated into Virginia. Start with the dates of birth of their individual children. Those born in Pa. signify the time-period the family resided in Pa. Those born in Va. signify the year the family removed to Va. Did all the families migrate about the same date? If so, aren't they suspect to be related? 3. Don't stop collecting. Always collect little bits of information. Persons who resided in the same areas, or counties, where your ancestors were, and who had genealogies written, or biographical sketches, are worthy of notation. Read carefully "their" migrations, deeds, etc., and how they compare to yours. This is how written genealogies, biographies and county histories become valuable. 4. The earliest records are invaluable...because there was a limited number of people. If there were only 2 Franklin names in the 1810 Rockingham Co., Va. Census, then they might be "brothers", "cousins", "parents", etc. Think like this. Clarify if they are, or are not, by studying your miscellaneous database. When you can't find your ancestor, organization of the miscellaneous information is often the key to where to search next. It is essential to know the genealogies of all the people in a given area. crussell@traversecity.com http://www.traverse.net/people/crussell/fergus_family.htm Listowner FERGUS-L-request@rootsweb.com