I, too thank all who volunteered advice. I live in Wisconsin which did not become a state until 1848, and therefore records are somewhat difficult to find early on. I believe that I was working under the assumption that the states on the east coast all had records going back much earlier and in fact some do have records back to the 1600's. I have had more difficulty with NH, NY and VT. I understand that fire was often the cause of lost data. I suppose now the poor town clerks in Chittenden Co. will be flooded with requests! Nancy Vogt