There are several places where a researcher might be shocked, surprised or thrilled with the wording of a document - and which we often have to take with a grain of salt! 1 - Biographies. I've spoken of this before of course. Biographies were normally written by the individual himself (or a descendant) and what was said was taken as is by the publisher of a biographical work. Even a plain old country boy could turn into a wealthy, wise and acclaimed citizen. Now - some were true of course! 2 - Obituaries. In the past, before obituaries became "cut and dried" in their wording, family members or friends often wrote the obituaries that appeared in the local paper. Terms like "universally loved" always breaks me up - I'm sure everyone in the universe knew the individual! Terms like pious, loving, untiring, etc. is often in the eye of the beholder. Sometimes the editors of newspapers knew the deceased individual and made the obituary more "flowery." "A large concourse of mourning friends and neighbors" is another term used frequently as well as a description of those remaining. I still like to read this type of obituary however ... it's much more personal. 3 - divorces. Oh yes; if you've ever read through the petitions for divorce in the past, you would think the offending spouse was the most evil, cruel and heartless individual that ever walked the earth! In the past, the divorcing parties seldom appeared in person before a judge; depositions were taken from them and anyone who could contribute to the cause - neighbors, relatives and it appears sometimes, the neighborhood gossip. The deposition was read before the judge by the lawyer and there was a set pattern to the wording which usually guaranteed that the divorce would be granted. "Cruel and inhumane, deserted me without food or provisions, departed my bed, treated me with disdain" etc. etc. When one reads the testimony of the offended party, one's heart would break and you become convinced that the husband (or wife) was the most despicable person on earth. Then, when you read the testimony of that horrid man or woman ... oops, he/she becomes the saint! So, don't be convinced too quickly who is the offending party! Family members (parents, siblings) would always make it sound worse that it might have been ... but again, it might have been that bad! 4 - pension applications. When old soldiers applied for a pension from the government, they really, really, had to prove their need for a pension. Suddenly they were infirm; had only one milk cow and a dozen children running around barefoot; the wife was weak and useless; the farm was falling down ..... I have one distant relative who filed for pension increases every year and dragged dozens of doctors in to testify through 2 counties. At his last application he had 24 diseases as a result of the war and likely drove the County Clerks insane with his annual application. We know they likely deserved a pension but, with the help of a lawyer or even the clerk, even a hangnail became a life threatening condition. The dear old soldier wanted that pension even if he had to turn his loving spouse into "mentally confused" and his children as uneducated and poor and wandering the streets begging for food. Now, again, some pension applications were absolutely true ... but know that many "enhanced" their condition. So, when reading through these, have the salt shaker handy just in case (for that grain of salt!) and dig deeper to see if the statements were true! Sandi Sandi's Puzzlers: http://www.gensoup.org/gorinpuzzles/index.php Sandi's site: http://ggpublishing.tripod.com/