I live in CA and it is a little hard to pop into the history center in Chester County. I have sent several queries on this site with no response. Several years ago Judith Kaufman sent me sheet of paper that just had just the surname "Thomas" newspaper information on it. The one thing on it interested me was the marriage of my ancestor John M. Thomas to Sarah Derham on 24 Jun 1849. The paper had marriages, death clippings and it really got my interest. The earliest date on the paper is 1848. I want to know if there is earlier sheets like this? I am at a dead end on my Thomas & Derham family in Chester. I know there is a tremendous amount of Thomas families in Chester, let alone the rest of the state. At this time, I have not found any books on Chester, PA about marriages, deaths, will extractions, etc., before 1850. Searching VA is wonderful because there is lots of information to glean from books. I search 3 states for my family, PA, MD & VA. PA is the hardest. This is the info I have: Marriage of John M. Thomas to Sarah Derham on 24 Jun 1849. Anna Thomas (b) Apr 1849 John Derhan Thomas (b) 2 Feb 1852 Jane N. Thomas (b) 1853 Catherine Thomas (b) 1857 Edith Thomas (b) 1862 Joseph Thomas (b) 1863 Ida May Thomas (b) 1865 Sarah left John and cohabited with James Capwell, I think she eventually married him. Sarah had a child with Capwell. John L. Capwell (b) May 1870 and lived in Brandywine. John Divorce Sarah in 27 Jan 1879 and he died soon after, 27 Sep 1882. I have the divorce papers, which had a lot of information about this sorted affair and other info. John son John D. moved to Maryland and married Sarrah M. Spies. Joseph was with his father on the 1880 census. Catherine married Daniel Quigley 1880 in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and lived in Philadelphia. Jane married Harry H. Lukens, they lived in Montgomery, Pennsylvania (1880 census) I don't know what happen to Joseph, Anna, Edith or Ida May. I don't know what happen to the farm or where John M. is buried. If anyone can help or does research please contact me. Carol Chiveral