Hello Ms. Dodge: Since your message of Monday July 17th dated 8:11 PM was to this mailing list I am replying to the list and although it is directed to you I am sure most who read your message is entitled to the reply as you have made statements that are incorrect. First of all let me state that the Sons and Daughters of America's First Families is a National Genealogy Society formed in 1998 and has been a fixture on the internet these few years. ALL societies have different qualifications for membership and cover set times of our history. Membership within each society must qualify according to those rules. For instance; "General Order of the Founders and Patriots of America" admission is only by direct descent in the male line from one's father , or from one's mather's father, to a founding ancestor who have must been living in one of the original thirteen colonies prior to 1657, and in the same direct line there must have been participation in some form on the side of the colonists during the American Revolution. The year 1657 was fixed in 1896, when the Order was established, as a period being a half century after the first permanent English settlement in Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607......This Society is most difficult to qualify for and membership is highly prized. Ancestors here after 1657 would not qualify for membership. "National Society Of The Colonial Dames of America..To be eliigible for membership, a woman must be descended from someone who was born by 1749 and resided in one of the thirteen colonies by 1750, and who rendered efficent service to the country before 1776. "The National Society Colonial Dames XVII Century" Open to women who is the lineal descendant of an ancestor who lived and served prior to 1701 in one of the Original Colonies. I am unable to list all the Societies within this post but this will answer some of your questions Our Society America's First Families formed 1998 in open to ANYONE who had an ancestor who lived in the American Colonies prior to 1676. No service to the Colonies is required. Now to answer some of your statements.............America's First Families web site is free to anyone who wishes to access any of our pages or the site itself. No one pays us to list anything. You mention a date of 1657...that is not true. We post lists of early 1600's Ancestors within our 1600s Ancestors Data Base regardless of when they lived here even if was after 1676. Many Societies and Reference Works are listed Many of your ancestors are on the 1600s Ancestors Data Base. If they are not there it is because we have not as yet found proven lines. Every one there does have lines and since this is a work in progress new people and facts are updated aprox. every 3 to 4 months. The Data Base will easily handle over 100,000 1600s Ancestors. You do not pay anything to access any of our pages. Who ever told you that is uninformed. The 1600's Ancestors Data Base now contains over 28,000 people with proven lines (including 21 Ancestors with the DODGE Surname).......First Families indicates those people here before 1676 and has nothing to do with their social position within the Colonies. You need to enter the Ancestors Data Base Information page at the URL below. This will tell you what the Data Base is and what the reference codes are and how to use them. URL for 1600s Ancestors Data Base is http://www.firstfamilies.org/db/dbinfo.htm Allow a few monents for the pages to download as some of these are large. All in all your statements on America's First Families web site were uninformed. Have you ever visited the web sites? The very best to you and yours. Harold Oliver Director America's First Families