I sent the man with the group sheets an email and here is what I sent and his response. Note his email addy if anyone wants to contact him. Take care all!! Rilla >X-Sender: wyates@mail.montana.com >X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Pro Version 3.0.3 (32) >Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2000 08:31:24 -0800 >To: Rilla <rilla@ixi.net> >From: Bill Yates <wyates@montana.com> >Subject: Re: Group sheets > >At 10:59 PM 01/30/2000 -0700, you wrote: >>Hello! >> >>I was browsing around ebay tonight and noticed your auctions - I posted >>your URLs to 3 different genealogy lists I'm on. >> >>I noticed also that you're in Stevensville - we're in Butte, and moved back >>from Missoula a year ago. >> >>How do you manage to have so many group sheets? I was just curious. >> >We have been in business for 27 years, and have had over 50,000 >people participate in our Family Group Sheet Exchange by ordering >and using the photocopies. Many of them have submitted their own >research results, often the fruit of many years of research and >much expense. The sheets are a great reference tool, and in most >cases, the submitter would be overjoyed to receive correspondence >and to exchange information. Here is a description of Family >Group Sheets and some idea about our exchange program/ >clearinghouse concept: > >WHAT ARE FAMILY GROUP SHEETS? > >The family group sheet is one of the most handy tools ever >invented for the genealogist. It is second only to the familiar >pedigree chart (aka ancestor chart) in usefulness and popularity. >There are many different formats which have been published over >the past fifty years or so, but each form concerns the family >unit - husband, wife, and children. There are spaces for births, >deaths, and marriages, and usually some room is provided for >notes and sources. Most versions call for the name and address >of the person filling in the form. > >While the pedigree chart maps out the skeleton of a genealogy, >the family group sheet provides the details. The first of three >essential uses for this ubiquitous tool is as an intermediary >between raw data and a finished manuscript. Many people have >prepared very extensive family histories by simply filling in the >blanks on family group sheets. Secondly, the family group sheet >serves as a guide when gathering information. At a quick glance >it is easy to see what information is known and what is missing. >As soon as the blanks are filled in for the parents and for each >of the children, complete with some form of documentation, work >can proceed to the next generation. Many people gather data from >relatives by sending a blank form to each aunt, uncle, and >cousin, asking them to return the original or a copy when >completed. > >A third and very important use for the family group sheet is as a >means of exchanging information with other researchers. It is a >good idea to balance your efforts by spending 50% of your effort >doing original research and 50% trading with other family >historians. A great way to accomplish the trades in an efficient >manner is to swap photocopies of family group sheets. Realizing >this, I started a clearinghouse for several of my ancestral >surnames in 1974. I called it the Cooperative Research Exchange, >or CORE. Then in 1981 I expanded the concept to include all >American (U.S.) surnames and called it the Family Group Sheet >Exchange. We now have hundreds of thousands of family group >records in our paper files, with more being added on a weekly >basis. We have by far the largest collection of its kind anywhere. > >Our purpose is to coordinate current research and to build upon >the past efforts of other genealogists. While the FGSE is not a >substitute for original research, why repeat the same research? >We sincerely believe that participation in the FGSE will greatly >increase your chances for success in genealogy. > >BE SURE TO CONTACT OTHERS RESEARCHING YOUR FAMILY NAME >Write to those who prepared family group sheets on your surnames, >especially if the families lived in the same area as your >ancestors. You may be able to obtain useful data. Many report >great success after such an attempt: "I must say that I found my >first experience with you quite rewarding. The sheets did not >give me what I wanted, but they put me in contact with a lady >that had a book with what I wanted. She was the first person I >wrote to from the family sheets." --Mrs. Elizabeth May, Toledo, >OH > >Bill Yates >Yates Publishing >P.O. Box 67 >Stevensville, MT 59870 >406-777-3797; toll free 888-377-3797, fax 406-777-1012 >See our genealogy auctions on eBay! Seller: wyates@montana.com >http://pages.ebay.com/search/items/search.html > - -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------ Look at my standard signature file: good deals and new freebies! - -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------ I get paid to surf the Web-are you getting paid to surf yet? I'm a member of AllAdvantage.com and I get paid for every hour I spend online! Signing up is totally free and it takes less than a minute at http://www.alladvantage.com/home.asp?refid=BKD-632. If you have already signed up just go to the AllAdvantage.com Web site and click on the "Download" button to get your Viewbar. AllAdvantage.com has been paying out hundreds of thousands of dollars to their members for two months now. The average check for the month of August was $47.77! I already have recieved two checks for a total of $80.00!!!! Here are a couple more! http://www.epipo.com/signup_form.asp?Rilla http://www.desktophorizon.com/index.html?referrer=rilla http://www.dotad.com/Default.asp?ID=566567 Regards, Rilla Surber, Member BKD-632 AllAdvantage.com Member Since April 1999 The Rules Have Changed...Get Paid To Surf The Web - -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------- Always wanted to have a psychic reading done! http://www.christel.nu/psychic FREE psychic readings available on my website! - -------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------