This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Seals in Tennessee Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/UiB.2ACI/1332.1 Message Board Post: If you live in California, you MUST live near an LDS family history center, unless you are in a tiny hamlet. After you determine the FHC's hours of operation, ask whether they have Ancestry.com on their computers. All the US censuses through 1930 are on Ancestry.com, some of them poorly indexed--or the names misread. Also, there are many other databases on Ancestry.com. You may find that the films which hold the records you are seeking for Wilson Co., TN and surrounding areas are at Salt Lake City, and for a fee, they can be borrowed through your FH center. Also, it is possible the Sutro Library in San Francisco, a branch of the California State Library, which has MANY genealogical books and films will lend through your local library some of their publications. Ask you local librarian about interlibrary loan, and fees for such. Their catalog is on the University of California catalog system, but try google.com for Sutro Library to try to find the catalog. The local FHC may have hundreds of microfiche called AIS (Accelerated Indexing System) which is a rather comprehensive census index for the ENTIRE United States through 1850--and for some western states, census indexes beyond 1850. Also some mortality schedules are on the last Searches, each /census year being labeled a Search. They are arranged by surname alphabetically, and many of us have used this system to find our ancestors in some different places. I wish you luck. E.W.Wallace