Michelle - Now I understand - You have subscribed to a rootsweb list for Rowan Co., NC. Right? You want to find out about the German surname Coons. Right? What I am telling you is that one of the earliest references to that surname - Coons, whish is spelled many different ways, is to subscribe to the Germanna list or, better,go to the website compiled over the years by John Blankenbaker. Now--I forgot to tell you about a trick which rootsweb uses to prevent spam, hacking, etc. When a URL is given, rootsweb puts either dashes or parentheses around the URL [the name for the website] So, in the message which you received, you have to remove the parens or the dashes, copy that URL, and paste it in your search blank. So--here is the URL with some *extras* at the beginning and at the end: Remove those--they are like the paper on a band-aid. Remove those, copy the http and copy the ending html (Remove the extra stuff) _http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~george/johnsgermnotes/index.html_ (http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~george/johnsgermnotes/index.html) I hope you can get to that website. There is a LOT I don't yet know about computers, and I have been using some version of a computer for decades, but a lot of stuff I don't understand. (Like an auto--who knows all that stuff under the hood?. That doesn't keep me from driving.) If still questions, address me personally. E.W.Wallace (hdanw@aol.com) **************Biggest Grammy Award surprises of all time on AOL Music. (http://music.aol.com/grammys/pictures/never-won-a-grammy?NCID=aolcmp003000000025 48)