One of the most difficult genealogical books to find is a 1970's publication by Elizabeth McKoy called, "Early Wilmington, Block by Block from 1733 On. This book eluded me for almost ten years until I recently purchased a copy from a rare book dealer in North Carolina. It was printed in a very small edition, the author subsequently passed away without children and the book was never reprinted, making it a challange to locate. I contacted the Lower Cape Fear Historical Society to see if they had copies and they too confirmed that the book was impossible to find. Many of Miss McKoy's original papers have been deposited at the Society so if you are in Wilmington it might be worth while to visit them at 126 South Third St. in the old Latimer house. My genealogical interest in the Cape Fear region is due to the Cowan's who settled in the area. >From the book we find the following: "Most of the facts used were found in and taken bodily from the oldest deeds in the New Hanover Courthouse-those old books named AB, C, D, E, and on. I used them as far as S and beyond. These are in various types of handwriting and were inscribed long ago by the then Register of Deeds. The oldest deed used here was dated 1733, and most, but not all, were dated before the middle of the 1800's" What actually happened was the creation of a genealogy of an entire historic district. If a person owned propery in the blocks as far back as 4th st., Miss McKoy recorded that in her book. For those of you who would like a copy of this 159 page book please contact me privately for pricing details at cscunc@aol.com. I will provide a list of some of the surnames found in the index for your general information. Regards, Robert Cowan 525 Harrogate Rd. Matthews, North Carolina 28105 Adkins, Allen, Anderson, Asbury, Ashe, Ashford, Atkinson, Avery, Bailey, Baird, Baker, Beatty, Bernard, Bishop, Blake, Blount, Blyth, Bonham, Bradley, Bridgen, Brown, Bugnion, Burgwin, Burns, Burr, Calder, Campbell, Carpenter, Castle, Clark, Cooke, Cowan, Cunningham, Davis, DeRosset, Dickson, Dorsey, DuBois, Dudley, Eagles, Edwards, Evans, Faris, Finney, Ford, Fraley, Fulton, Gabie, Gallant, Grainger, Green, Guerand, Hall, Halsey, Harris, Hasell, Higgins, Hooper, Hostler, Howard, Hunt, James, Johnston, Jones, Kenan, Lazarus, London, Lord, MacLaine, Marshall, Maxwell, McKay, McKoy, McRae, Meares, Miller, Mitchell, Moore, Morris, Murray, Nichols, Owen, Parsley, Peden, Player, Price, Purdie, Quince, Robeson, Rolfe, Ronaldson, Savage, Smith, Solomon, Springs, Taylor, Toomer, Walker, Watson, Watters, Watts, Williams, Wimble, Wright and many, many more.