Mary, you are right, it is not a good idea to split the list, it would be an injustice to the new researchers. Even though some of us have been doing this for years, we still have our brick walls, and have to check every lead. I have been researching for a lot of years, and I have never heard of splitting a surname, according to location, people moved around in the early days, always looking for something better for their families. It is probably the rather recent researchers who want to do this, and do not realize this will be like waking the sleeping giant. Mary