In a message dated 7/7/99 5:07:33 PM Central Daylight Time, [email protected] writes: > I'm afraid that the only way to really get a lot of information is to go > after sources of type #3, which is to say that it requires time and travel. I have found a way around this to a certain extent. Since I'm unable to visit even a local archives, I have to work by mail. I have requested and obtained from the archives a photocopy of the pages of the index to wills, index to estates, index to lawsuits, reverse and direct index to deeds for the names I am researching. This expense is much less than purchasing the books themselves, although I've done that in counties where I have a number of lines staying over a number of generations. From those, I have been able to order documents by mail. One such lawsuit gave me the names of 27 descendants and proved the marriage of my gggg-grandparents. But you do have to know where those ancestors lived, and studying migration routes can give you some indication of where they might have been. Good luck. Joyce