> > > In the hope that some continued discussion will benefit newbies... > > > > > > None of my "proven" data is on any web site for several > > > reasons. > > > > > > J. Hugh Sullivan > > > > I looked myself up on the web and found that I had died in Scituate, > > Rhode Island a number of years ago. Reports of my death have been > > greatly exaggerated. > > > > Barbara Combs obie '70 > > All of my data proven and unproven are on the Internet, without any > names of the living and without sources, I have benefited so much > from online postings that I feel the drive to share mine. When I am > contacted I can send whatever sources I choose and we can converse > on any points that come up. It makes me feel so good when someone > writes me that they really appreciated the information and I have > had some great breakthroughs from the ones that I write to and what > a fantastic tool is the post it notes on many of the places that I > research. > Any questions are welcome newby or not > http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=purplevw1&id=I65255 > > Sandra Tyler Duncan <[email protected]> Kindly folks, I just wanted to thank all of you for the discussion in this thread. I think this is just the sort of stuff that a newbie like myself needs to read. (I've been dabbling for about 2 months now.) On top of that, the link in the 2nd post in the thread http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi is marvelous despite any of the shortcomings that have been mentioned. I typed in just my great-grandfathers surname and place of death and was rewarded with just one match which is unquestionably him, along with ancestors going back farther than I had ever imagined I would find. Perhaps not "unquestionably" to some standards (which subject I have also been looking into - should I really go looking for a physical copy of a book published in 1863 to verify that what was copied to the internet is correct???) but absolutely matching a great many points that my Mom had recorded before her death in 1999. In fact I am quite inclined to email the lady who has compiled the data (Diane) and offer her some of the "missing pieces" my Mom recorded, which she evidently does not yet have. I can't really "prove" that my data is correct, though some of it probably comes from old family bibles and tombstone inscriptions. I suppose you might call my Mom and myself "casual genealogists" who are interested in the line of descent and family history, but may never meet the accepted "proof" standards. Please don't think I am taking Diane's data as being necessarily correct either - I'm just happy to have a better and more extensive starting place to look. I think I've rambled enough, so I'll just say thanks again, and that if anyone has any more advice I'll gladly hear it. Regards, Charlie -- To email me, eradicate obfuscate, remove dot invalid and replace dot and at with the obvious. obfuscatecsquared3 at comcast dot net dot invalid If this seems paranoid I'm sorry but you should see the spam I've gotten! "CSquared" <[email protected]>