Bill, I hope those reading this will forgive me for what I am about to say, but as a Southern Californian I would never trust any organization out here in the 1001 towns that make up LA (or similar community) that I didn't have a lot of background on before giving them my hard earned dollars. I have found that folks whose family history originated on the the east coast SEEM to have a greater interest in their personal history than those who originated on the west coast. This is probably because most of our families did originate in the east. Out here, there is relatively less history and most revolves around the gold rush and hispanic movements. History in the east is very marketable commodity simply because they HAVE an abundance of easily obtainable records that pertain to an abundance of early population. They have little reason to market a poor product. As for west coast history, I am proud of the people out here who work so hard to preserve what belongs to the west and sometimes wish I could find an ancestor who was a '49er from SC! I happen to be the first in my direct SC lineage from pre1790 to have been born outside of SC. Perhaps this is why I feel as tho SC is my real home. I hope my words have not offended anyone and that it may help save someone valuable dollars in this most expensive hobby. Barb [email protected] wrote: > Part 1.1 Type: message/rfc822 > > Part 1.2 Type: message/rfc822