In case you ever wondered why a large number of your ancestors disappeared during a certain period in history, this might help. Epidemics have always had a great influence on people - and thus influencing, as well, the genealogists trying to trace them. Many cases of people disappearing from records can be traced to dying during an epidemic or moving away from the affected area. Some of the major epidemics in the United States are listed at the link below: http://www.rootsweb.com/~fianna/guide/epidem.html begin 666 Epidemics.url M6TEN=&5R;F5T4VAO<G1C=71=#0I54DP]:'1T<#HO+W=W=RYR;V]T<W=E8BYC M;VTO?F9I86YN82]G=6ED92]E<&ED96TN:'1M; T*36]D:69I960]0S P,3(R .041!-SDX0D4P,3A%#0H` ` end