I was checking the marriage record of Jann Heldstab in the Schuders (Graubünden) church book and noticed that the minister had made an entry for the marriage of Jann's father, Peter Heldstab, even though that marraige was well before the beginning of the seperate church book for Schuders (ca 1700). Earlier entries for Schuders were made in the Schiers church book, which has a straightforward entry for the 1668 marriage of Peter Heldstab and Catarina List. [Peter and Catarina are my 8th-great-grandparents, by the way.] Most of the surviving church books for the Prättigau valley begin about 1650 or later, so the statement below provides genealogical data for before most of these books. It may be of some interest to anyone looking at the Heldstab genealogy. The entry reads as follows when translated: "1660 [actually 1668] Peter Heldstab and Catarina List of Fideris were married. They were father and mother children - Hans-Peter, Jori, Jan, Barbla, Elsa, Trina, Anna, Margreth. The Grandfather Schreiber [clerk] Jori Heldstab, [ancestor] of all Hel[dstabs - interpolated, page damaged at that point] in Schuders, Schiers, Bußerein [Pusserein, a district between Schuders and Schiers], Saas and over the Landquart." According to the Familienamenbuch der Schweiz, the Heldstab surname is presently found in Schiers (Schuders is now part of it administratively), Saas, Küblis, and Klosters, all towns along the Landquart river in the Prättigau valley. I would be interested in exchanging data with interested researchers and Heldstab relatives. Regards, Mike Hobart