This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Thompson Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/3dB.2ACI/6174.1.1.1.1.1.1 Message Board Post: The possibility of an Amish, Mennonite or PA Dutch ancestry has always been in the back of my mind. But I don't really know how to research these particular groups of people. I've tried looking for information in books, but only seem to end up with historical documentation on their cultures as a whole. Nothing that directs me to individual families and their genealogy. How do I know when a census record is covering their communities? Is there any orderly and consistant record keeping tradition that I can access?