Dear JBishop, The last paragraph on the autoreply e-mail you received, and which contained the data, should have read something like "If you don't understand the above text, please check out the following URL (URL is given) before asking me questions." Also, the first sentence on the webpage that Wolf posted for the Swiss Surname Directory reads: " If you are not familiar with this service, please check out the description and the sources used first. Both "description" and "sources used" are links to pages that provide the information you are asking for. You might want to bookmark both webpages for future reference. The explanations are brief but accurate. You also inquired "What can I do with a date, surname and canton to try to obtain more information? A fair question, the answer to which is not readily apparent. Here are a couple of ways I use that data to achieve those ends. 1) If, for example, your ancestor was born in 1777, and there are three lines of data for three different communities that the surname held citizenship in, but only one community is time-coded "a" for "before 1801, then that is the Buergerort or hometown where records were maintained. However, since most cantons have transferred the church and civil records dated before mid-1800 to central storage in the cantons' Staatsarchiven, that is where you would write for your ancestor's records. And addresses of all the Staatsarchiven are listed in SwissGen on the Internet. 2) If, taking the same case, the data indicated that the surname was found before 1801 in several communities, and you know the wife's maiden name, then you would look up her data in SSD and see what one community was common to both of them. This would likely be the community where your ancestor held citizenship. The reasoning here is that in the 17-1800's automobiles did not exist and people tended to marry people from their own hometown, or close thereto. In this case also, you would write to the Staatsarchiv for the same reason given above. You also mentioned that narrative information you received did not match. That would be the narrative information from "Bibliography of Swiss Genealogies" by Mario von Moos. From this source we provide references to genealogies written on the surname of your ancestor. The first names may not be the same, or even if the same they may be genealogies written on different individuals (even though the name may be the same). We cannot guarantee that a genealogy was ever written on a particular ancestor, though we always hope for a match-up. If you still have questions concerning the data you were sent after reading the two webpages referenced above, please write to me at: <outriggger@aol.com> [3 g's in outriggger] Pete Mattli Ft. Myers, FL (USA) Ass't Administrater, SSD >-------------- Subj: [SWITZ] Swiss Surname Directory Date: 11/27/1999 7:40:17 AM Eastern Standard Time From: jbishop@gte.net (jbishop) To: SWITZERLAND-L@rootsweb.com I visited the URL that I believe WOLF posted for the Swiss Surname Directory. I entered two surnames which I have been searching, both on my paternal ancestral lines. The same day (very fast) I got a reply but am not sure I understand all it is telling me or how to use the information. I think it was giving me Cantons in Switzerland where folks with the surname lived and a date, is that correct? Also, it provided some narrative information but none of that matched. What may I do with a date, surname, and canton to try to obtain more information?