Hello all FERGUS researchers, relatives, and friends! It was not my intention to have the new website be launched prematurely, but apparently John Fuller who searches out and obviously finds new genealogy websites has discovered ours. Webmaster and fellow FERGUS researcher, Bill Richards, has been working tirelessly to write the information in computer language - which is definitely beyond me. Bill has put in many hours and spent time e-mailing plus chatting on the phone to begin with a rough draft, and now to fine-tune the site. He and I had hoped to have it be more complete before the announcement, but apparently that was not to be. There are many pieces of the outline in different stages of being birthed - so please be patient AND kind. Do take a visit, look about, and please wait to post ANY e-mails either to Bill or me so that we have time to complete this work. As most of you already know I am leaving for Belfast 2 weeks from today and I am still sorting the papers I will need to take along for the 3 weeks of research and travel there. I will not be replying to any queries until after May 25th and then they will be in the order in which they are received. Since I will be away I do not want posts adding up in my mailbox. And, Bill will be working on things already in progress. During this next 6 weeks why not gather your information together for us to begin to post. You will need to look about the site and find the Chapman codes for all the states (U.S.), counties (CA, UK, SCT, IRE) and translate your material into that format. For those of you who are listed in the redbound "FERGUS Family History" book you will not need to send in your information as Earl Crosby of Dayton has graciously already updated and input that information. BUT, if you have not sent Earl new information on Births, Deaths, or Marriages THIS WOULD BE THE TIME TO DO THAT. Earl's e-mail address is listed in the Cc: of this post. Now, I want to STRESS, EMPHASIZE, and will REITERATE that absolutely NO persons living will be posted to this site without their EXPRESS approval. That means that you will need to ask each person - not their husband, not their wife, not their mother, and not their father, or ANYONE else for that matter. Yet, parents of children under the age of 21 may give approval for their children. It is of utmost importance that people's privacy be maintained! You will notice that I have posted my own birth information - with only the year, not the actual month and date . . . and only the state in which I was born, not the town or county. All posts of persons living will be in this format. Please help us out in this matter. We'll be posting information to the website in this regard. Since Bill and I are still in the "construction" process please do not send us any suggestions, only corrections if you find one. Actually, we are pretty good at finding the errors. Yes, at a later date we will ask for suggestions and welcome your comments - just not yet please. In the meantime work away to get your information together to be posted. My best, Cynthia ^.^.^. N E W FERGUS Research Worldwide website http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~fergus00/family.htm ^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.