In a message dated 12/30/03 4:30:01 PM US Mountain Standard Time, ms_kaylla@webtv.net writes: but I'm staying just in case there's a clue thank you for your time. And Laura this is frankly how you WILL find your relatives! There are the strangest places to look and boards like this give you neat ideas. Just the other day on a geneology board we were told to go to Googly.com which is a search engine. Type in your relatives last name or WHOLE name if this might happen. IF there's ever been a picture posted on the web it will come up when you do a search using IMAGES. I did it for HOSTER, which isn't the most common name on earth (try it with JONES and you'll generate way to many) I found a picture or the Carl Hoster house in Downtown Columbus Ohio -- and since I'm living there how neat is this? These are 'shirtail relatives' but still pictures of his Beer company, and Beer mugs -- well again who knows where and what you'll find. ALSO, if any of your relatives have websites where they have posted pictures this will also come up. ANOTHER HINT -- assuming as I did you've got a very unusual and uncommon name DO a search for just the name. I came up with Two College Professors in Germany who share this odd last name -- THESE are NOT sites with people who are doing geneology and ONE was completely in German! OK now what do you do? I suspect that I'd be related to them via my Great-Grandmother who'd been born in 1887 -- OH we'd be REAL close relatives right? I wrote both men brief notes telling them who Anna was and asked if THEY knew who their relatives would have been and if they'd trace back to Stettin Prussia in the late 1880's! AND said a big prayer as I hit send! I about passed out cold when professor #1 wrote back in less than 30 minutes ........ HE was very nice and said he'd look into it and LOOK into it HE DID! The other didn't write back for several weeks ...... THE one who's site was completely in German had been researching for me and sent me stacks of data! All this from a search for the name NIPKOW ..... and did you know one of their, and my relatives was the guy who invented TV? How bout that? SO keep looking and you'll also find neat information! I just picked up more from someone who'd sent it to my father --- IT's related to one of his relatives and dates back as early as 800's! OR earlier!!! Dad said he got tired of entering it so he gave up, something about OLD KING COLE -- I thought this was just a nursery rhyme for crying out loud!!! We'll see I could be related to a nursery rhyme and the guy who invented TV! Marge