Dear List, Thought I would share a recent success story. I discovered my ggggrandmother in the St. Elizabeth's Insane Asylum in the 1880 census. There are some records from this hospital at the National Archives (NARA) in D.C. If anyone is searching for ancestors who were patients or employees of this hospital I would suggest checking the NARA website to see if any of their records sound promising. I sent them an email asking for records of my ancestor (and quoting the number of the record group that was most likely to contain her information) and two weeks later I got her case file in the mail! What a surprise! The information in the file gave just a few bits of information about her family, but it I did learn her date of death and about a sibling that I wasn't aware of. However, the records were really fascinating and gave a glimpse of life during that time. It also contained a copy of a letter written by my ancestor in her own hand. Happy hunting Ginger Gillin (D.C. surnames: Gheen, Fearson, McPherson, Woodward, Thecker)