One type of evidence I am using is what I guess would be called "evidence by elimination". One of my VA-southside names is Maget/ Magett/ Majett/ Magette/ Maggett/ Maggot. I have compiled an Excel file listing all data (census; wills; birth, death and marriage records; land and tax records, etc.) by location and then chronologically for individuals with that surname. I have files by county and/or state. My branch of the family did not produce the number of records that others did, but I can eliminate those who could not possibly be parents by the various records. At this point I have narrowed down the possibility of the father of Arthur Maget (born 180-1812) to probably Nicholas Maget (son of Nicholas Maget, died 10 Dec 1795 and listed children by name in will) and Mary Jane Carr. Hopefully, some day I'll get to VA to look at will records to increase the preponderence of evidence to confirm my theory. Even with more common names I've found it helpful to analyze data by this method to see where to look next. Gene Ann