In a message dated 1/4/04 11:40:48 AM Pacific Standard Time, hip1@mindspring.com writes: << The complaint about listing surnames only does possibly have some merit, but actually a surname which is confined to a specific geographical location is most times sufficient for the purpose of surname recognition. >> In my opinion this comment is naive, unless there was only one family of the name in the county, which would be rare. What is a reader supposed to do--list all the JONES, or HUNTs, or CREWS, or HESTERs, or whatever in his files? It is the responsibility of the inquirer to narrow the field of interest so that the reader can tell at a glance whether there is a likely link. Otherwise the query will usually get (and deserve) little response. Tom Aiken