SUE'S COOK BOOK My name is Sue Roe. I live in Seal Beach, CA. Your Cook List Owner, Elinor Stephens, has asked me to write a column for the Cook Mail list that will give helpful hints for doing genealogical research. I'm going to call my column SUE'S COOK BOOK and I will be posting "Recipes" for doing various things. I hope this will be helpful to many of you. RECIPE #1 -- HOW TO POST A QUERY When posting a query to an online mail list or genealogy bulletin board, there are a few simple rules: 1. Start with your earliest known ancestor and give generations down to yourself (or down as far as you wish to go--you may want to list only the generations that have the surname you are searching for). Number the generations. 2. Give full name, birth date and place, death date and place, marriage date and place and name of spouse. If dates are not known, estimate. 3. Be sure to include your name and how people can get in touch with you. The idea is to keep it simple, while giving enough information so that people can see if they might tie into your line. The queries that people will not bother to read and respond to are the ones that are either too long and complicated or the ones that are lacking dates and places. Here is an example: My Cook Line 1. Robert COOK, Sr. b. abt 1636, England, d. 17 Sept 1699, Dorchester, MA, m. Sarah (surname unknown) abt. 1670. 2. Capt. Robert COOK, Jr. b. 9 Dec 1670, Boston, MA, d. 1 Apr. 1756, Needham, MA, m. Submit WEEKS 26 Oct 1693. 3. Elijah COOK b. 4 Apr 1696, Dorchester, MA, d. 1743, Worcester, MA, m. Deborah PARKER 10 Dec 1718, Dedham, MA. 4. Enoch COOK b. 19 Mar 1721, Needham, MA, d. 4 Feb 1797, Dummerston, VT, m. Lucy Rice 21 Nov 1745, Leicester, MA. 5. Elijah COOK b. 9 Feb 1752, Worcester, MA, d. 12 June 1812, probably Delaware Co., NY, m. Relief "Laifa" HARTWELL 1779, Putney, VT. 6. Ralph COOK, b. 2 Mar 1787, Putney, VT, d. 30 Sept 1866, Adams Co., IL, m. Jobje "Dollie" VAN BUREN 8 May 1814, Oswego Co., NY. 7. Oliver Hartwell COOK b. 15 Nov 1818, Otsego Co., NY, d. 27 Feb 1907, San Diego Co., CA, m. Clarissa QUINCY 30 Nov 1843, Adams Co., IL. 8. Mary Elizabeth COOK b. 8 Feb 1845, Adams Co., IL, d. 14 may 1899, San Diego co., CA, m. Joseph CHILSON 1 Aug 1860, Miami Co., KS. Here is where the line "females out" -- I could end the query here -- or I could go on down to myself, as follows. 9. Mary Alice CHILSON b. 14 Aug 1861, Miami Co., KS, d. 26 Sept 1949, San Diego Co., CA, m. Allen RUSSELL 15 Oct 1881, Miami Co., KS. 10. Maria RUSSELL and Ernest Stephen HILLIER--my grandparents. 11. Hartwell Russell George HILLIER and Elsie VOS--my parents. 12. Susan Marie HILLIER--me!--m. to James Herbert ROE. If anyone ties into this Cook line, I would love to hear from you! I have much more detail and would be glad to share. Sue Roe (SueMHR@aol.com) 117 Harvard Lane Seal Beach, CA 90740-2508