I've been reading a lot of message lately about people being stuck on finding their ancestors prior to the mid or late 1800's or even 1900's. I thought that I'd briefly share my experience on how to go about this, and possibly get some of you unstuck. Basically, I consider that there are three major source categories for genealogical data: 1) Published material that is available on the Internet, at public libraries, or from book stores and other similar sources. These may be genealogy related, or just general history texts, but basicall they are sources that you can obtain at home or locally (such as CD-ROMs with census records, etc.). 2) Other researchers that have worked on the same ancestors. These are the real gold mines if you happen to strike one by finding someone (usually via the Internet these days) that has a common ancestor and is willing to share their work. 3) Material that is only available at the original source, such as microfilm kept at historical museums, courthouses, state archives, universities, etc. The problem is only a tiny fraction of the total information out there about your ancestors is available from source type #1. Yes, there is way more than there used to be, but it is still slim pickings. For example, a CD-ROM might be advertised as having "selected marriages" from some subset of Kentucky counties for 1800-1850. In reality, it probably has about 5% of the total marriages for that area and period. Source type #2 is encountered mainly by luck. Actually, the farther back you can trace your family, the more likely it is that you will find a fellow researcher. In my case, I am one of the last remaining branches of the family going back about 5 generations, but when I finally worked it back to the East Jersey Colony of the early 1700's, I suddenly found information about quite a number of my ancestors and was contacted by several descendants of these other branches. 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. For years I thought that there was nothing to learn about my g-g-g-grandfather in Mason Co., KY, but in only two days time in the Mason Co. Historical Museum and surrounding area I found an amazing number of facts: court orders, deeds, wills, etc. I not only filled in a lot of missing genealogical information, but also learned a lot about the details of his life. I may even be able to locate where his house was built in 1799. So, my point is that there may be more information "out there" about your ancestors than you realize. It may even be more easily obtained than you think. The challenge is to find where it is, and that can only be done through a lot of legwork. Keep checking the catalogs, e-mail lists, and web sites, but also try to find a way to make a trip to your ancestors' home territories. It should be worth it. -- Doug Gordon http://pages.prodigy.net/gordondjc/gordon.htm