Dear Bill, First of all, I am so very sorry that you receive rude and inappropriate messages. You are the 2nd person in about 3 weeks who I have seen talk about that. The other person is also discouraged and has stopped posting. In his case, he is transcribing newspapers from the late 1800's and early 1900's and posting the genealogy related information to a message board. That message board is gatewayed and so the messages go through to the list. Apparently he is getting complaints about the "volume" of the postings. I can't explain why that happens. I can't explain why people behave the way they do. And.. while I am not normally a betting person, I would be willing to bet that the folks who complain are the same folks who haven't raised a hand to assist anyone else. But.... what I can do is tell you a little bit about you and what you represent to me and others. First of all, I ran into you early on - on line that is...<g>. You helped me out with some information and some hints on how to find some information. You took the time to send me a private e-mail. So.... although you never realized it you became one of the early members of my "on-line family". The folks where I work have heard about Bill Floyd and they aren't even interested in genealogy. But they have heard about this "such a nice person" who does all this work for others. Next, you gave me the opportunity to have information I would not have had in any other way. You give your time and effort and put it out there for all of us. You also serve as an inspiration to the rest of us - oldsters that is....<g>. I can't do what you do. I am not "portable" so to speak. But... your example serves as an example and encouragement to all of us to do what we can to help as well. So I help folks in other ways - with searches, hunt census records for folks, do look-ups, etc. In part because of your example. You serve as an example in another way. What a wonderful example you are to new folks just starting out in genealogy. You serve to introduce them to possibilities for the future and what can happen when folks move from concentrating only on their own lines to helping others. Again, I am so very sorry about the postings you are receiving and I understand how discouraging that can be. But I also hope that what I and others have said will help you understand how valuable you and your efforts are to so very many folks. Valuable not just for the data you provide but because of the example you set. You take care, Emma