Another reason to add your surnames of interest is this scenario: You go to the Surname Message Board you are interested in. You do a search for your ancestor's town or first name on that board, or you read all the posts and don't find a connection. You decide not to post this information you were looking for. Two days later, your lost second or third cousin goes to the same board and searches for the same town and same first name and does not find any matches. They decide not to post either, since there is obviously no one else working on their branch. What a lost chance to connect! I met my second cousin once removed via the MURPHY (!) board. Talk about a hard name to research! We have met and his family is just lovely. We have shared the research costs and received our genealogy all the way back to the Beara in County Cork, Ireland, along with the other Surnames that married into the Murphys along the way. So don't lose that chance. Good luck! Susan Daily On 5/2/07, Pat Connors <nymets22@gmail.com> wrote: [snip] > If you are wondering if it is worth your time to submit a name, I can only > relate that I have been personally contacted by cousins I have never met > through the various registries and message boards where I have entered > family data. Now I have met some in person and when you get 3rd cousins > working together on the same branch, it is amazing what new information you > find. > > -- > Pat Connors, Sacramento CA