My friends - I hope your holiday has been pleasant thusfar. Rather than posting data today, I am going to send out another in the "Tips" series. Over the 21 months that the JP List has been on-line, I have been asked a number of times about what sorts of general reference materials might be useful for a genealogist to own. I am also asked about more specific items pertaining to the Jackson Purchase region. In the area of general reference works that would be useful to any genealogist, whether novice, experienced, or professional, I suggest the following: Everton Publishers: The Handy Book for Genealogists Greenwood, Val: The Researcher's Guide to American Genealogy. Mills, Elizabeth Shown: Evidence! Citation & Analysis for the Family Historian Kemp, Thomas Jay: International Vital Records Handbook Stevenson, Noel: Genealogical Evidence Sperry, Kip: Reading Early American Handwriting Looking at Kentucky in particular, I suggest: Hogan, Roseann: Kentucky Ancestry Kleeber, John E.[editor]: The Kentucky Encyclopedia Sutherland, James F.: Kentucky Householders Sutherland, James F.: Kentucky Landholders Battle, Perrin & Kniffen: Kentucky - A History of the State In the Jackson Purchase region: Various county histories offered by the county genealogical and historical societies. For those with an interest in the Civil War period in the JP, the following would be of interest(some are journal articles, and are noted as such): Ash, Stephen V.: When the Yankees Came: Conflict & Chaos in the Occupied South Coulter, E.Merton: The Civil War 7 Readjustment in Kentucky Barton, Lon Carter: The Civil War in the Purchase[journal article] - Journal of the Jackson Purchase historical Society - V17, pp 79-91 Caldwell, Robert W.: The Civil War in Murray, Calloway County, Kentucky[journal article]. Journal of the Jackson Purchase Historical Society: V17, pp.113-123 Daniel, Larry & Bock, Lynn: Island # 10: Struggle for the Mississippi Valley Shuffett, Chuck: The Second Battle of Fort Heiman. [journal article]. West Kentucky Montage, May 1995, pp.7-14 Those journal articles may still be available through PERSI. The book items are probably available, if still in print, through amazon.com or barnesandnoble.com There are undoubtedly other resources which could be on this list, and anyone who can add a good resource to the list, please do so. There may or may not be a data posting tomorrow, as I must be out of town for a part of the day. I'll give a more definitive report on whether tomorrow on whether a data post will occur. -B ============================================================