Hi Nel, I'm 74 years old so I gotcha by a few years plus we are almost neighbors as I live in Colorado which is one heck of a long way from Ky, VA, TN and all those interesting states in between. And I'm here to tell you that OH NO YOU CAN'T. While writing my Buford genealogy book there were things I really needed for it to be a creditable work and I could not find them on the Internet. I apologize for prolonging a discussion that has more than worn out it's welcome on a lot of computer including my own. Court Houses and Historical Societies in the area where your elusive ancestor lived can be treasure troves of information - info that has never seen the internet and probably never will for lack of someone dedicated enough to load it onto the internet. Best wishes everyone, fern www.bufordfamilies.com From: nelhatch Sent: Wednesday, May 19, 2010 10:57 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [VA-ROOTS] reliable sources HATCHER website: http://hatcherfamilyassn.com HALL DNA project: http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~nhatcher/hall/HDNAtest.htm When confronted by a difficult problem, you can solve it more easily by reducing it to the question, "How would the Lone Ranger have handled this?" - Unknown Had to grin a bit at this......... "You wont find everything sitting on your butt all day in front of your computer." I'm here to say.......oh, yes, you can!! :-) While I agree I would enjoy immensely scrounging thru dusty old records in some courthouse basement, at 70 yrs old and living in South Dakota that option is not available to me. And I dare say, for a variety of reasons, whether age, health, budget or family obligations, that's true for many in this group. I know how to find the address of every state archive, county courthouse and geney library and society in this country and have ordered many a document while sitting on my butt in front of this computer. My main advantage, though, is that we have formed over the years a large group of Hatcher descendants and I have access to any number of people living near SLC, the LVA and other state archives that I can call on to either order a doc [cheaper for residents] or search for docs. Several states are putting their records online - WV and MO are just 2 that come to mind. Findagrave is a marvelous site now containing 46 million burial memorials. Familysearch.org [LDS] has been uploading vital records for over a year and has been keeping me endlessly busy. Maybe I can't find "everything" but I'm sure trying my hardest! Nel To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-roots.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.437 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2883 - Release Date: 05/19/10 06:26:00 To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-roots.html