Dear List -- First, on the issue of minor personal notes or humor contributions to the list -- Hey, folks, genealogy is a hobby. You know, something you do FOR FUN. If you can't find a little humor in it, or tolerate those who do, maybe you need to lighten up a little. Besides, there's all kinds of "cousins" involved in this list, and if you can't share insights --or jabs -- with your family, who can you talk to? I subscribe to 8 or 10 lists, and I find that the ones with the strictest rules about what's acceptable are the ones with the fewest contributions and the least interaction. This list is by far the most informative, most active -- and the most fun to read. I'm not saying everyone should share all their jokes and other junk mail, but as long as we stay somewhere near the main topic, we can all learn something -- and maybe have some fun. And maybe someday someone will help Barb find her phantom ancestor. Now that I've alienated a few, I'll re-run my roll call input. My wife's Drake line goes like this: Francis Drake b: 1619 in Essex, Devonshire, England d: September 24, 1687 in Piscataway, NJ ...+Mary Walker b: 1625 m: 1647 in Portsmouth, NH d: July 29, 1688 in Piscataway, NJ ...2 John Drake b: 1654 in Portsmouth, NH d: September 29, 1741 in Piscataway, NJ ......+Rebecca Trotter b: July 5, 1655 in Elizabethtown, NJ m: July 6, 1677 in Elizabethtown, NJ d: Abt. 1739 in Piscataway, NJ ...3 Isaac Drake b: January 12, 1686/87 in Piscataway, NJ d: January 1759 in Elizabethtown, NJ ......+Hannah Blackford b: 1681 m: 1710 d: Aft. 1740 ...4 Isaac Drake b: Abt. 1717 in NJ, probably Piscataway d: Bef. 1759 ......+Ruth Martin m: February 23, 1742/43 in Essex County, NJ ...5 Nathaniel Drake b: April 1750 d: Bef. July 3, 1816 ......+Mary Bryant b: July 9, 1755 d: Bef. July 3, 1816 ...6 Lorena Drake b: 1780 ......+Ralph Van Kirk b: October 14, 1781 m: January 6, 1801 ...7 Ralph Van Kirk,Jr. b: 1821 d: 1902 in Hamilton Square, NJ ......+Martha Ann Hughes b: 1823 d: 1896 in Hamilton Square, NJ ...8 Cornelia Hay Van Kirk b: September 12, 1847 in Trenton, NJ d: August 7, 1932 in White Plains, NY ......+Israel Howard Kinch b: May 30, 1845 in Armonck, NY m: December 7, 1864 in Bordentown, NJ d: August 12, 1922 in White Plains, NY ...9 Harold Townsend Kinch b: May 24, 1868 in Bordentown, NJ d: February 28, 1916 in Mount Vernon, NY ......+Cornelia Storrs Burnham b: September 17, 1875 in Milton-on-Hudson, NY m: August 27, 1903 in New York, NY d: February 13, 1949 in Yonkers, NY ...10 Ralph Van Kirk Kinch b: September 28, 1908 in New York, NY d: January 1983 in San Diego, CA ......+Jean Forbes Cameron b: April 3, 1908 in New York m: April 19, 1935 in Yonkers, NY d: November 1984 in San Diego, CA ...11 Valerie Jean Kinch b: Rochester, NY ......+Richard Edwin Prell b: Sparta, WI m: Rochester, NY I'd appreciate any help anyone can give me on the ancestors of Nathaniel Drake's wife, Mary Bryant, or any info on Lorena Drake's siblings. Keep the list as is, Barb -- it's great. Dick Prell Vienna, VA