This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/AKB.2ACI/1267.1.1.2.1 Message Board Post: Dear Evie, I would like to start off by saying that I was somewhat taken aback by you addressing me as "My Dear" and then proceeding to give me a basic genealogy lesson. I have been seriously researching several lines for over 20 years (through original research...visiting courthouses, major libraries throughout the South and I've spent two 5 day weeks at SLC doing nothing but research), so I think I know what I'm doing. You gave me a microfilm reference as though I didn't know what it was. I've been ordering film for 20 years. And, I am well aware of when death certificates started being issued. I learned a long time ago that you cannot trust what's on a census. I've found whites recorded as blacks, mother's recorded as children, ages off by as much as 10 years, birthstates that are completely wrong, I've even had one family recorded in two different states for a single census year. The census might provide clues but you really can't depend on them for accurate information. If you will go back to my posting/s, I stated, " I sure would like to get my hands on Emma Cobb's death certificate to help prove my Dodson/Dotson connection." You jumped the gun by telling me there was already a definite relationship to Jos. Dotson. If you knew anything about this family (which I wouldn't expect you too), Joseph Dodson/Dotson was in Panola Co. by 1850. On the 1850 and 1860 census there was no Emma (or any other female) who was born in or around 1855 with Joseph Dodson/Dotson. Furthermore, according to the 1850 and 1860 census, it appears as though there were two sets of children (one from another marriage), and as you well know, those census' didn't state relationships. So I can't definatively say Joseph Dodson/Dotson was the father of these children. When you go back and reread what I was looking for...."What happened to Thomas and Emma Cobb" I was hoping someone might have an idea and I could start looking for a death certificate AFTER the states started issuing them. I submitted some information to your Lafayette Co. USGENWEB site about two months ago and you were very gracious about it. I really do appreciate your work on the USGENWEB Lafayette Co. site. I wish more coordinators had the enthusiasm as you do. So, I've had my say. Can we start off again on an equal footing? I noticed that you have a Matthews line. I am descended from Isaac and Ellen Matthews who ended up in Shelby Co., TN in the 1840's. Any connection? I look forward to your reply. Thanks, Debbie