Having just subscribed to your Digest version, which means I don't get your individual messages, but several of them all bundled up, I did get the welcome message, which was missing any mentioning of how to access your mail list archives. But I did find them anyway, and found some interesting postings, and of course, hope to find many more in the future. In the case you are not aware of the fact, that the beautiful Shenandoah Valley has been a favourite place of settlement for Hessian soldiers of the American Revolution, and in fact, was a hiding place for them after they deserted from their troops or escaped from the prison camps in Charlottesville and Winchester. It stands to reason that today's family historians run into a brickwall trying to find the origin of a man who had suddenly appeared in church records or censuses around the AmRev time. He may have been one of those Hessian soldiers seeking refuge among the other Germans who had settled in the Valley. I am glad I found your mail-list and will monitor for Hessian names. John Helmut Merz, http://www.cgo.wave.ca/~hessian also listowner of [email protected]