In a message dated 6/27/2006 9:01:02 PM Eastern Daylight Time, MSWILKIN-D-request@rootsweb.com writes: Always try to validate what you find as facts in these. HI: The man who raised my great-grandmother was interviewed for the slave narratives. He was 93 and living with his last surviving son in Springfield, OH. Someone sent me a link to the Ohio Historical Society Web site, which has the narratives from Ohio residents. I had re-read his narrative for years before I realized that the narrative confirmed information about his wife (my great-great aunt, who raised my great-grandmother after her mother died) and their life together. I had only a few details about my great-grandmother, through the U.S. Census before then. The narrative filled in a lot of holes. I've found his narrative to be extremely interesting and informative. My experience has been positive and very valuable considering that there's so little info out there about the slave experience. The way I confirmed the info I found in the narrative was not difficult. He said he was in the U.S. Colored Troops -- that's easily confrimed through military and pension records. Also, the U.S. Census backed up his location in two cities in Brown and Clark counties, OH. I see the narratives like oral history, which you have to document just like everything else. Kberry