Since one doesn't always know which Sharp one IS researching when getting started, the only thing to do is give as much information as one knows about the Sharps that one does know from the records identifying the people searched for. Things to include might be: Known Names Known Dates Known Places of the events Known in-laws &/or other relatives And while I don't want to rain on anybody's parade, as fiddle-footed as many of our ancestors were, it's always possible that some German origin Sharps are living in the same area as the Scots, Scots-Irish, English, etc. Sharps, or vice versa. Just be patient, weed through the info one has, and don't panic about which ethnic origin one's family might be when they've got a generic type name that encompasses many nationalities. Time enough when you find the immigrant ancestor to worry about which country he came from. I'd love to get mine back to that point. Karen