Howdy Folks, In last Sunday's New Jersey Herald, the Jennie Sweetman History Column was about a woman in Hamburg, NJ - Ella "Cookie" RUDE SMITH - who is researching the RUDE family. Ella has the genealogy done by her aunt, Ethel Coon, done for the occassion of Ethel's parents' 50th anniversary - John and Anna HOPPER RUDE. Also mentioned in the article is Mona Rood of Texas who has compiled a 820-page book on the Rood Genealogy. That family history goes back to Thomas Rood/Lerude born circa 1602 in England. Cookie's aunt believed her Rude family of Sussex county originated in France while a Rude family of Franklin was of Italian descent. She also notes that the family skeleton stems from the immigrant, Thomas Rood(e). He was believed to be the first person hung in Norwich, CT after being convicted of incest with his daughter, Sarah. Ms. Smith continues that her ancestor, Noah Rude, migrated to Morris county from Connecticut. She longs to fill in more of the blanks in her research. Cookie Smith would love to hear from others working on this family, the article concludes. You can contact her at (973) 827-1875 or Cookie12@aiov.com I've contacted Cookie both for permission to post this and as verification of her email address. She is eager to hear from other RUDE researchers. Happy Hunting, Cathy DiPietro vdpcom@warwick.net listowner: NJSussex