The government has plenty of information online but it can be difficult to find. One reason is they lack the ability to properly name and describe their databases. I think we have all noticed that. Also, they do not seem to be orderly. We've noticed that too. Sometimes the records are held by an agency you would never think of. You have be patient and look at everything. That's the good news/bad news part. The good good news is that they are going through and renaming things, making things easier to find, etc. How long that will take is anyone's guess. The web sites are ever changing and changing their names so the first place to go for government web sites is: http://www.firstgov.gov/ which has links to everything. From that page click on history which will get you to http://www.firstgov.gov/Citizen/Topics/History.shtml. Down a bit is Family History and Genealogy but don't neglect some of the other links on that page like the soldiers and sailors database. Cheryl Rothwell [email protected] Logan County ILGenWeb www.rootsweb.com/~illogan Central IL Regional Coordinator, ILGenWeb Clark, Downing, Harding, Lucas, et al -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.308 / Virus Database: 266.11.5 - Release Date: 5/4/2005