I don't have anything truly prepared for today. I have just returned from several days in northern OH visiting my oldest daughter. Not being a cold weather person, I was greeted by maybe 6 inches of snow and temperatures in the teens. Returning home late last night to 60 degrees and tornado watches ... quite a change and I fear I'm coming down with a cold out of it. On the 6 hour drive up and back, my friends and I (my minister and his wife) were talking genealogy, family events and why things were done the way they were. The subject of infant baptism came up. Now, my church does not baptize infants, but many do. For those churches, the researcher might hunt and hunt for some sort of a baptismal record and throw up their hands in despair when nothing can be found in church minutes where they are usually shown. Why? Weren't they baptized after all? Well - maybe yes, maybe no. I know this first hand. Sometimes if a child is near death or quite ill and has not been baptized, a family member could baptize the baby if the minister/priest could not reach them in time. This was considered "legal" and no record might exist. Delving into a personal experience with this. One of my daughters was in a major children's hospital which was operated by the Catholic church. They insisted that she be baptized in case she didn't survive. Of course, this was contrary to my beliefs but I was daily begged to have her baptized. So, I telephoned our minister as to what I should do. He had me take the top off the baby bottle and pour a little of the formula on my finger and make the sign of the cross on her forehead saying "In the name of The Father, The Son and The Holy Ghost, I baptize thee ..." The priest and precious sisters at the hospital were pleased and it was entered only in their hospital records. Thankfully, she made it of course! There have been quite a few times when a priest or minister wasn't present and a family member or friend baptized a child - or an adult who had never been baptized. So, even if you never find a record of a "formal baptism" in a church setting, they could have been baptized. Sandi Sandi's Puzzlers: http://www.gensoup.org/gorinpuzzles/index.php Sandi's site: http://ggpublishing.tripod.com/ Archives: http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/index?list=south-central-kentucky