Sharon, Here's a suggestion: Since you have one concrete piece of data, start with it. Assume that Omar Curtis was at least 20 years of age when married. Thus, he should have been included in the census of 1880 and 1890. Begin searching the listings for the area around Nelson, PA in those two census reports, to see whether you can find anything listing the SHEWMAN line. Sometimes, we're lucky on a first try. Once you have found the area in which his parents lived, you can search the records of that county for wills, deeds and other documents that might be on file. Often, they will help provide "hard evidence" of a time and place, and thus assist you in your research. Sometimes, they will provide names you didn't already have, and point to other geographic locations. The more new information you uncover, the more leads you will have to do further research! Soon, you should be able to trace the line back to John and Laner. Regards! JS At 5:34 am -0700 5/30/00, Sharon Zurflieh wrote: >At 01:07 AM 5/30/00 -0700, James Shuman wrote: > > >>Could you tell us where John and Laner were located? It would help if we >>knew what geographic area you are searching. > >I'm not sure. The earliest location information I have is that their >g-g-grandson, my g-g-grandfather Omar Curtis Shewman was married in Nelson, >PA in 1897. ____________________________ James Shuman, art instructor Modesto High School jshuman@telis.org ____________________________