For More Effective Queries
               OK, you want this search to be really effective. You want usable results that are accurate and thorough. Remember the old adage about how you get out of life what you put into it? Well, the same thing is true here, too. The more thorough and the better data you provide us, the better job we can do searching for family connections. So.... take a bit of time and help us to help you better. There are three critical elements that must be satisfied to firmly establish ancestry. If some of these elements are missing, then your query is less likely to be successful. The three elements are:

1. The full name, date and place where the birth, marriage, and/or death occurred
2. The full name, birth date and place of each of that person's brothers and sisters
3. The full name, birth date and birth place for each child of the person that the query is about.

              We want very much to answer your queries but we need thorough, accurate information. Do not be discouraged if you do not have all the information requested above. In the event you cannot provide this much information, we urge you to list every other thing that you know about the family in question. Just remember that if your Grandpa John, or Joseph, or George is in the CMA archives, he's there along with (perhaps) hundreds of others who carry the same name, so wherever possible give middle names, too!

A note about septs:
              The Clan McAlister of America (CMA) does not maintain genealogical information about any sept other than ones spelled with a variation of McAllister. We do not include the McAlister septs, like Alexander, Allison , Sanders, etc. At some time in the future, we may add the Alexanders of Menstrie since they not a sept but are a cadet house in the MacAlasdair Clan line.

                Your query may be published in the CMA Quarterly journal in an effort to elicit further information. If you do not want your query linked to your e-mail address, it will be noted as being from an anonymous source, and any response will be forwarded to you.

                Please post your queries and/or information in the box below. The more information you are able to supply, the more likely the query will produce positive results. Desired elements of information include your ancestors' names (as complete as possible); spouses' names; dates of birth, death, and marriage; names of children, with dates, as above, in all possible detail. If you know of any dates and locations of family migrations, from one country or state to another, list them, along with anything else you think is helpful. Keep in mind that oral history is often uncannily accurate, so if there is something in family legend, don't hesitate to include it. (The size of the query window does not determine the amount of information that can be accommodated. You may input as much data as you wish.)