Linda, Thanks for the enlightening info re: Podkarpackie. I only knew that it was the name of the province after the 1999 redistricting in Poland. Do you have ancestry there? If so I'd love to communicate with you further about that. I have now identified 12 immigrants of the IWANICKI surname (called EVINSKY in our branch) who came from Stefkowa, my ancestral village, to America via Ellis Island. Tracing them I see that many are related and probably all are somehow kin of my great-great-grandfather, Peter IWANICKI (EVINSKY). As far as German research goes, I cannot say that I have done all that much original research. My German lines basically are in one of two groups: 1) the "Church People," that is the Lutherans and Reformed who came to Pennsylvania in the period from about 1730 to 1760; and 2) the Plain People. A large number of my ancestors were Mennonites or Brethren of one sort or another. With the first group I have found the books of Annette Burgert to be invaluable in identifying ancestral villages, from whence I can order the microfilms of local parish records into the nearest LDS center and scour them for additional data. I've only done this a few times at present, though I have many microfilms on my list to get. You can get the film numbers online at www.familysearch.org. I have a number, also, that were 1709ers through New York State, and the work of Henry Z. Jones has proved of great aid in tracing these lines. Most of those went into Tulpehocken in Berks County and I go to that Historical Society at least once a year to glean more data. They have a fabulous annual dinner in November of each year at Trinity Tulpehocken UCC -- the church which my 8th great grandfather, Hans Georg Noll, helped organize in the 1740s. My Anabaptist roots have been well researched by many. I am a member of the Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society and their quarterly publication, "Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage" contains MUCH in the way of documentary evidence on these families. Jane Evans Best's work on my Groff and Bär lines has been phenomenal, and I have it as published in the magazines, as well as purchasing her book. She has studied many of the original parish and civil records in Switzerland and Germany, documenting the early ancestry. I have bought a number of published genealogies of Mennonite families in Lancaster County and, as these tie together one way or another, I have picked up information also. One of my ancestral lines, Schürch, has a very active family organization of which I am proud to say I am a member and one of the official historians. We have two branches, in North America and in Switzerland. Much research has been done into various original records by the historians of the association, and many books have been published documenting the relationships as known. We just had a wonderful reunion at Lancaster, PA last month -- I know that, from this list, myself and Judy Offen were privileged to attend. I am just so thrilled to have what I do have, and am very thankful to everyone who has shared information along the way. Were it not for this sharing of data I would be nowhere near as far along as I am in the search. The next big frontier is the research of my Carpatho-Rusyn roots in southeastern Poland. My grandmother, who is 100% Carpatho-Rusyn, is now 77 years old and I would like very much to present her with a volume of her ancestry so that she can know her heritage. It has always been a mystery beyond her grandparents. The research is tough, as I do not know the language, and it took a long time to figure out where to write. I have written letters to the village priests in the hometowns of my great-grandparents, using a Polish translator, and am hoping that I will receive something in reply. I'm not sure that I gave you many insights into how to do German research, but maybe you've gleaned something from my note. Justin Justin Kirk Houser Genealogist and Historian of Central PA and Beyond View my homepage: http://members.aol.com/JKHouser84/index.htm Main Lines: Houser, Breon, Shawley, Ranio/Hrynio (and others) President, Bellefonte Area HS Class of 2003 Student Representative, Bellefonte Area School District Board of Education Listowner, PACENTRE-L@Rootsweb.com Historian, Schürch Association of North America (specialty Central PA lines) Member, Valley View United Methodist Church (near Bellefonte, PA) "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature"