Dear Effingham County List Members: I have been on many lists. I have seen lots of bickering, insults, and the like. NEVER has anyone on the Effingham list been anything other than helpful and kind. The fact that there is not a lot of activity might be interpreted as it being a bad list. As in my case, on one side of the family I've run into a brick wall because those ancestors came from Germany...and settled in Green Creek, Effingham County. Information is limited because there wasn't a large clan in the area. Also, information was garbled because of language barriers. I finally found my Tegenkamps on the 1850 census by going page by page. The enumerator started the name with a D and the remainder of the letters were illegible. There is no way a transcriber would have gotten "Tegenkamp" from what was written. Only with the census images was I able to find them. And only a descendant would know that those were the people he or she was looking for. On the other side of my Effingham County family, my Hensleys settled relatively late in history...Again, mid 1800's. They moved in from Tennessee, and North Carolina before that. Most of us interested in genealogy are looking for the past, rather than the present generations. In my case, I don't dwell on Effingham County. I know my information from Effingham County is limited, and those with whom I have come into contact will contact me when information is found. I'm reasonably certain that most people living in the county in the mid to late 1800's came in from somewhere else. I also know that it is up to me to VISIT Effingham County to compile what information is available. If not visit, there are research books available that I am saving my money to buy. This list provided great leads for me, aided a struggling "newby" and gave me lots of encouragement. (Thanks Joanie) The Effingham site gave me contact with those who have all ready been where I was. The only thing I can say about making Effingham County Genealogy stronger...maybe we should start contributing something. On another list I am on (Macon County, Tennessee) a group broke off to volunteer to transcribe. Our administrator e-mails us newspaper articles on genealogy in the area and we transcribe them (we're still with the Macon County List but this could not be done without making a new list.) As a bonus, until the entire project has been completed, only the transcribers reap the benefit of seeing what has been transcribed. When the project is completed it will be available to all. List Mom Linda: You gave us good pointers on how to post a query (I printed it out) What suggestions do you have for strengthening this list and the Effingham County GenWeb site? Melody researching Dust, Tegenkamp, Hensley, Rentfrow/Renfro/Rentfro, Webb _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com.