I think most of us researching this county, or any other for that matter, don't live there....I, personally have only visited once, several years ago, and almost ALL my research had been done with books and CDs I've bought, through info found through online lookups and genweb archival records, things I've ordered from Records and Archives, and all the other things available to us online (the upside of computer genealogy)..plus reading anything I could get my hands on about the area....this was done before my visit, which was more about seeing the local family sites and the whole area than doing any research (although I did spend a day at the CCHS). I'm a perfect example of what you can do with 'book larnin'! I've always thought that if one lived in the county where the family had always lived, they wouldn't 'need' these lists....they'd just trot down to the courthouse or wherever and get the records themselves.....so I always 'assume till told different, that list members are NOT from the area. However, you can't always tell..... I've had folks request lookups and then, later, discover that they live locally....I always feel like saying..."you live there and you're asking ME for help...geez, you should be doing the helping!" Getting a copy of what you want, long distance, is not always easy, but generally 'doable' with some 'creative' thinking....or, at least I've found it to be so. The trick for me has always been to know EXACTLY what it is I want (will # so and so on page so and so of will book so and so), and where to ask for it. For example, many state archival libraries have microfilmed newspaper records that are available through interlibrary loan, (the one in my state will send simple copies at 25 cents a page, if you tell them exactly what you want and where to find it), and several large libraries that I know of also participate in interlibrary loans....checking with your own library, or your state archival library, is the first step in the process - find out what info they need from you to obtain materials for you from other libraries. Large libraries generally have online card catalogs you can surf, to see what they have that might be helpful. Long distance research is harder,for sure, but still possible. Luckily for me, many in my family had money, and that generally provides a paper trail to follow - money means land and land means land and tax records, and, most importantly, wills. They were also Quakers, and the Friends were such wonderful record keepers, so this, too, made my work easier. It's the ancestor who rented his farm (name wouldn't appear in tax rates), belonged to a small, local church congregation (records long gone), and died with few possessions (didn't require a will)....THESE are the folks that are almost impossible to find, whether you're in Chester Co, with access to local records, or live in Kalamazoo.(and we all have them on our trees).... it's hard for us to accept, I know, but some folks will NEVER be found, unless through 'divine intervention'! (and, I'm not holding my breath). No one owns the information 'found' in public records, for sure, but by the same token no one has the 'right' to take information from someone else.....it's a fine line, but there.....it's not the same to harvest the data from an original record and to take it from the research of another person. The difference is not in the data but WHERE you find it. So, peruse all the actual records you want and take what you find...do NOT do the same with the research of others. Not without asking permission of the researcher, and noting where the data came from in your own records. S. "I would like to add this comment to this line of posting. It is very difficult for some of us who live on the opposite end of the continent to dear old Chester Co., PA. I have several lines that originate there and so have much to research. Not all info/data is available online. I am not able to travel for health reasons to be in PA to do research in person. So how am I to continue my research?...." '' I once paid money to one of the PA Historical Societies, only to receive tax records which were exactly "not" what I had requested and did not help me at all. So, for now, I have given up on my old Chester Co. lines. I know that there are documents available, and listers have copies of such.....here's an example......I was told once that I should "get it from the library archives, just that same way I did" from a lister who thought that I could just drive down the road like she did and go to the library/archives. ........but from a copyright standpoint, do we have "rights" to information that is available from public records?? I don't know the answer to that. " -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.407 / Virus Database: 268.12.9/458 - Release Date: 9/27/2006