Hi to all, I didn't know about this site until I read about it in an article in the Wall Street Journal on Thursday, so I'll take the chance that some of you haven't seen it either. It's the Bureau of Land Management's site of "Official Land Patent Records." http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/ It's definitely worth checking out. If you're lucky some of your HALL ancestors purchased land from the government during the great westward expansion of the 19th century. It's easy to search, and if you're willing to download a TIFF reader, you can print out actual copies of the patents from your home computer, or you can order certified copies for $1.50 each. Hope you don't mind my posting a "general information" item to a surname site, but I'm sitting here with a dozen copies of land patents on my desk that I didn't know existed until today! It's really great for determining when your ancestor moved into an area. Have fun! Susan Hill Husij husij@home.com Phoenix, AZ