Tim, "Knickerbocker History" is a great piece of early 19th-century American literature, but it isn't history. Think of history as it would have been written by Mark Twain or by the crew at Saturday Night Live, and you'll have an idea of how reliable "Knickerbocker History" would be as a textbook. It tells the story of New Amsterdam as a series of adventures and parodies and satires and tall tales. It must have been funnier to Irving's contemporaries than it is to us, because they would have been familiar with the history and dialects that Irving stretched and twisted. I think most of us would find it very hard reading -- perhaps interesting in its way but hardly worth the effort if you're more interested in straight history than in regional literature. I wonder if list members have suggestions for histories of New York that are more likely to be of interest to most of us? Ardis Parshall looking for descendants of James JONES and Mariah WOOD in Cortland Co. AEParshall@aol.com