Dear list, I know that only some of you actually use our Harrison County look-up resources, but I was asked to send this because of reoccurring problems. If anyone has a better idea of how to get this message across, please let me know privately. Unfortunately, multiple postings on the website have proven not to be very effective. For those of you who aren't familiar with the Harrison Co WVGenWeb site, we offer complimentary look-ups in resources that we own. These include censuses, marriage records, cemetery readings, etc: "I asked Cathy to send this to the Harrison County List anonymously. I am a look-up volunteer for several counties including Harrison Co. Realizing that there is often some frustration in requesting and receiving queries, I have some suggestions and comments. I asked for this to be anonymous because I don't want to offend the many wonderful people for whom I have done look-ups, but at the same time, I would like to shake up those who have been either rude or demanding. 1. Please remember that the look-up volunteers are just those -- volunteers who take time from their own research to help you. We do make mistakes. Please be patient with us. Often multiple queries will come in at the same time and it might take a while to answer yours. I love sharing information and helping people, but quite frankly, I'm not very happy when I receive a query message, which says, "I need John Smith." I am less inclined to go out of my way to help a person who makes a demand like that. 2. Many of the volunteers do look-up queries for multiple counties. Please put the county and State for which you are requesting the query. It will save the volunteer from having to write you and ask for more information. Many states have counties with the same names. 3. Please remember that the information you have requested might not be in our books. There are several reasons for this. People used middle names so if you request a look-up under a certain given name, it might not be there because the person used a middle name or nickname. This is really quite common. In the Census, people were often listed under initials with no given names. We have no control over this and can only give you the information in the books-- if any. 4. Please don't ask for a blanket search; under copyright laws, we can't do that. The genealogical books run from 1850 to 1920; actually quite a long span of time. Please don't ask for " John Smith in Harrison County." You will have a response more quickly if you give some idea of the year range and either the town or district. A volunteer could spend a lot of time looking for someone in 1850 when that person wasn't born until 1880. The 1850 Census book is easy to use, as is the 1880, because it contains all districts and is alphabetical. Districts divide the books beginning with the 1900 Census and so the volunteer must go through each district looking for a particular surname and given name. If you have any additional information concerning your ancestor, please add that when you make the query. Knowing that John Smith had a wife named Susannah and a child named Edward makes our job much easier. 5. Please remember that the law did not require births and deaths to be reported, until some time in the 1920s. There are many births and deaths that were never recorded. The volunteers have no control over that. Even if you know, beyond a doubt, that your people were in Harrison Co during a particular time, we may not be able to find them. 6. And finally, please write and thank the volunteer for whatever work they did for you. Volunteers do look-up queries for the love of genealogy and a strong sense of obligation, and often spend a lot of time working on your surnames. The volunteer look-up programs are wonderful and free; please treat the volunteers are you would wish to be treated." Thank you for your time, Cathy