Hello: I'm new to this list, and not actually sure if this is the list I needed to join. Could someone tell this ignorant Canadian where one looks for information about someone born in Virginia before it split into two states, if one doesn't know the specific town? My 4xgt-grandmother Anna THOMAS was born in 1776 in Virginia -- that's all that's recorded by her daughter Elizabeth (my 3xgt-grandmother) in the family Bible. In the mid-1790s (exact date unknown) Anna married Mark CHASE of Exeter, Rockingham, NH and their first two children were born in Exeter. They then moved to Canada. I won't clutter this with more details in case I'm on the wrong list? I've already queried the Rockingham list and no-one can find any record of the marriage in New Hampshire, so presumably it was also in Virginia somewhere. I'd like to find out, eventually, Anna's birthdate and place, her parent's names, and the date and place of her marriage to Mark Chase. Would 18th century records for the state be kept centrally in Virginia, or have they been split between Virginia and West Virginia according to their specific location? Thanks in advance to anyone who can point me in the right direction. My other ancestors were all in or from Scotland, so I'm not too familiar with researching in the USA. Margaret Gibbs Richmond, BC Canada

Luckily I believe the state will keep all the records before the split in the Virginia State Archives. The state archives is usually kept in the capital of that state I believe. The counties will usually also have records but a lot of records have been lost county wise due to fires etc so don't get discouraged. Caroline Co is the worst for lost records I have been told. One lucky point is that Virginia has the best genealogical gathering of information by their Society and researchers who have written on the families of this state. If you know a specific county then you have access to their information too. It's usually not that much to join and they will help you with those hard to find people. This American dummy is down to the 1700's in researching and most arrived from Europe and I don't have a clue as to how to find anything. Good luck in your search, Debra --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Search presents - Jib Jab's 'Second Term'