I wanted to share a good source of otherwise unknown books that have a wealth of information. Many years ago I discovered the Library of American Civilization (LAC) at the local university library. It is a series of micro books with an accompanying index (real books - not micro books). I don't know the publishing source, but the books seem to all be written prior to about 1900. An example is that I obtained an old leather-bound Latin book when my grandmother died, over 40 years ago, with the name Joseph Stockbridge written in it. My grandmother was a Stockbridge, and I knew the names of her father and his immediate family - the Joseph was unknown to me. Also written with the name in the inside cover was Bowdoin College. The college was in the area of Maine that my Stockbridge family had been for some time. I took a chance and wrote Bowdoin College. The Special Collections sent me copies of all correspondence and info on Joseph - lots of genealogical info but it didn't mean anything to me. I still had no idea who Joseph was. I was in the university library one day and happened on the LAC. In checking the index I found a reference to Bowdoin College. The micro book, published in about 1890 (if memory serves), was a compilation of information the College had collected as part of a centennial project from queries to their alumni from years past. Included was my great-grandfather - he attended but did not graduate. I again wrote to Bowdoin, armed this time with knowledge that there should be something regarding him in the Special Collections. I was sent, much to my surprise, a whole ream of correspondence (very little of which had been contained in the Bowdoin book) that he told of his life since leaving Bowdoin. He listed all of his children and of his 2 marriages plus a recount of his Civil War experiences, being imprisoned as a Northern sympathizer (and seemingly a very vocal one) in a Southern state. Muchos muchos information that I didn't know. He was in his late 80's at the time of the compilation. I still do not know the connection with Joseph, but I feel sure he is a relative. The bad news is that after a few years I went again to check the LAC to find all the micro books and the indexes - but the reader had disappeared, and there is no other machine that will suffice. although the head librarian has spend some time trying to find the machine. I'm afraid that it just looked like an old machine when they updated all the other microfilm readers. I would be very interested in finding anyone else who has also used this series and if a reader is still available. I would add that there is much that may never be of use to a family researcher, but there were books on everyday life, business, travel logs, trade, and whatever. All of the 19th century - maybe before although I never came across one. Happy hunting! Sharon Simnacher "ss" <simnacher@3lefties.com>