Hi Jean Thanks for your reply. I live in the village of Saltford between Bristol and Bath, England. The 'Legeer' family I'm searching for include connections to a number of the names on your list. I suspect that we do have a family connection as I have Michael Legeer (1859-1932) married to Lydia Stark (1860-1915). Michael was the son of Adam Legeer (1816-1886)originally from Ireland. I believe they were at Vale Summit (Pompey Smash)at one time. I also have Legeers married into the Bowser, Buskirk and Spiker Families all of which centre on the Garret/Allegany County areas of Maryland. Jacob was married to Christina Spiker and was killed in an accident at the Hoffman Mine in 1861 leaving five children. What I need is a connection to a living Legeer who has the local family information to help me put the pieces together. One of the biggest problems I have with verification is the frustrating habit that many of our ancestors had of using their middle names, for instance Jacob above was really George Jacob. etc. I'm pretty sure that there were Legeers in Bittinger as well, I understand that there is also a Legeer Road and a Legeer School there. I thank you for your offer to help but short of kidnapping a local Legeer and interrogating him I'm at a loss as to how to proceed!! Most of what I have on this group has been gleaned from monitoring the Allegany Co. site at RW and I have also corresponded with people on that list. Perhaps some of your Stark relations have somne information via the Michael/Lydia route. I know what you mean about the migration habits of our ancestors. We have several generations of Le Gears that have made their way to Canada and the US. I have two uncles, Rathkeale born, that were sent to America in the late 1920s as young children to be with relatives that could give them a better life. One was taken in but the other abandoned, (at the age of 13 y/o!). My father should have gone too but on the day of departure hid in the fields until the ship had sailed. He eventually came to England after WW2. We have other LeGears in Australia, at least two separate migrations. Strangely enough the Family Group I know least about are the LeGears of Northern Ireland. Around 1910 my Grandfather at Court Matrix married Theresa O'Halloran. His mother (Rebecca Teskey) refused to live in the same house as a Catholic and removed herself with the rest of her children to the North. There appears to have been no family contact at all after that. Bye for now Chris Le Gear In sundrenched Camelot England _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp