Hi List, I'm counting on you for your much needed input. We'll be driving to Virginia the first weekend in Nov. for Parents' Weekend at Washington & Lee Univ. and we (actually I) have decided we should drive up to New Jersey since we'll already be 3/4 of the way there. This will be my first, and possibly only, chance to do some research in NJ and I'll have only 3 or 4 days in which to do it. So I have make a plan of action before I get up there. My interests lie in Somerset and Essex Counties. I realize that, at the time my ancestors lived there, these counties encompassed a much larger area than they do now. These are my primary objectives: 1. Find information on the MORRISON family, three generations of whom were in Somerset County by 1750 (Do not know when they arrived in NJ) Thomas MORRISON > John MORRISON, m. Margrete > Capt. Isaac MORRISON, b. 1745 in Somerset Co. (probably Bernards Twp.), m. Phebe Ward LAMSON, daughter of Daniel LAMSON/LAMPSON, b. 1696 in Newark, Essex Co., and Eunice WARD. Hopefully, my search will include looking at Somerset Co. property records and the Jacob JANEWAY account ledgers. 2. Find information on the LAMSON/LAMPSON family and related families of early Essex Co. The Calendar of NJ Wills 1670-1760 lists Daniel's estate (Essex Co., Lib. F, p. 405, 4 Nov 1756), but it only gives the name of his wife, Unice (sic) who served as administrix. The children were minors so I think there should be other court records. 3. Find old maps of Essex Co. so I can get straight in my mind the proximity of such places as Newark, Elizabethtown, Orange and Newark Mountain because I'm really confused. I keep finding the same person living in all these different places at approximately the same time. Were the town names used almost synonymously at one time (pre Rev. War)? My time line in NJ is approximately 1666-1805. Surnames that I know of so far are MORRISON, LAMSON/LAMPSON, WARD, SWAINE, and HARRISON Now here's where I really need your help. Given the limited time and the type of information I am hoping to find, where would that time be best spent? The NJ Archives in Trenton; The library at Rutgers University in New Brunswick; New Jersey Historical Society in Newark; a combination of these place, or elsewhere? I am open to any and all suggestions if there are other places I should consider and any other kind of advice. Thanks so much. Betty Louisiana