Mary, Like you I am using witnesses now as a back way to find my ancestors. I think they are connected. The question is How. The records I have for my Irish in the US show sisters and brothers being commonly used. I have scanned pages where I have pages, to see if people were being asked to stand in I do not see that. I believe I have run into that in English records where the same couple witnessed other marriages. I have also run into the fact that it is as hard to find out much about the witnesses as it has been about the actual ancestors. :( I manage a list for Tipperary and one of my listmembers told me if I hadn't found the clue in the witnesses yet, it was because I hadn't looked at enough of them. So, she is a big proponent of following the trail of names. I have started to track those names in my genealogy program so I can pull them up at will. One other place I am using is probate. Whose probate did the male ancestor sign surety on. I am assuming they would not have done that unless there was a relationship. I don't know how common it is but the index for Wayne County, Michigan, lists them if they administered the probate. Good luck, Christina | I noticed that Carol came up with the same question that has been | on my mind lately. As I try to break down the bricks, I have now | started looking at marriage witnesses, out of desperation .....I | would love to know what experience others have had in connecting | witnesses with the marriage couple? Is it fairly normal for the | Irish to have brought their own to the wedding... or is that a more | recent custom? m | | Mary Villalba |