All the talk about vital records caught my attention. I have had mixed, but timely, results requesting records from the state of VT and my money was returned on "failed" searches. Further digging on my failures proved I was looking in the wrong place. Records were not always especially well kept in small towns. I have some that were barely complete. And information passed through the family has often proved, for me anyway, to be less than accurate. So if the state says they don't have a record, chances are they don't and you need to do more digging. People seem to have moved around 'back then' just as much as they do today. There seemed to be a lot of moving back and forth over state borders, too, as my Ggrandfather died in Vt but his death cert was completed in NY. Check bordering states for towns on the borders and check migratory patterns for the era. I have also found an amazing number of hints just by getting a local map of the area where my families lived and checking out the names of rural roads and landmarks. Hope this is of some help to some of you out there. Linda