In a message dated 8/5/2005 5:16:08 P.M. Central Daylight Time, [email protected] writes: Anne, I have found my WEBB ancestors. I also received the death cert of James W WEBB B 1847 SC died Troup Co GA Dec 25, 1922. I will be going to meet these Webbs in Troup Co GA in a week or so. I plan on trying my hardest to get one of the males to do the DNA. There are a lot of them there. Do you have any suggestions on how to present the question of DNA testing to them? I can, as you all know, be quite a talker but this is so very important to me to finally have a WEBB male to test! Thanks in advance, Mary Hmm bringing up the topic can be chancey, and knowing nothing about these folks all I can recommend is to establish rapport first, then when you have been talking genealogy awhile, ask if they have heard of it. If they are negative, just say "well I heard about it and thought it might help our family and was wondering what you thought about it." Although I would say it would be ok to give them a piece of positive publicity. Nonie Webb's post from yesterday about her breakthrough which would have been impossible without DNA would be good. Don't press for a commitment, cause you want to maintain good harmony. Later maybe you can try again. Some people will say "no" to any novel idea and then change their mind once they have thought it over. So give them time to think about the idea. Hear out any objections so you know where they are coming from -- are they scared their information will be misused or abused? Do they think it means drawing blood? Do they have religious objections? Have they heard negative feedback? And so on. If they are positive, be prepared with information about how it's done. You can get a free sample kit from the test providers, brochures, even videotapes. Just visit their websites and request the kit and materials by email or phone. I got mine in 2-3 business days. Explain what line you think you might hook up with that is already tested (if there is one). If you have no idea, simply say you have researched the paper trail until you're blue in the face and this would help you focus your research efforts -- maybe you have been looking in the county/state you/they know about, and a connection could come from a state you never knew they lived in. If you get lucky enough to have someone agree on the spot, you can give them the kit and I believe all the companies will convert it to a "regular" kit if you email them the details and circumstances. If they want or need more time to think, or have questions you can't answer, you can still leave the kit and get the answers they need and get back to them. Anne