Since the Winter issue of the Update, there has been no further work or information on the search for the background of Thomas of Malden. There are four people working on the will, but it is so difficult to decipher, work is going along at a snail's pace. A lot of things seem to be at a standstill, which is very common in Genealogy.

The only `meat' to add to the Thomas quest, was a note that I received from Mrs. Ruth Skinner of Mesa, AZ: "The other day I was looking through some material and found "Genealogies of Woodstock Families" which began with Serg. Thomas Skinner and it said, 'He became a selectman in 1680 and the same year he was made a sergeant of the Malden Co. in the 1st Regiment under Maj. Gorkin.' This would answer the question asked by John B.Skinner III on p. 10 Vol. 1 No. 2.

Since things seem to be slowing down, have any of you reading this done any searching that has led nowhere? Knowing where someone has been before saves a lot of time for those looking to retrace your steps. As one of the purposes of the Association is to avoid duplication in work, any logical steps that you have taken in your Skinner quests that may end up being followed by others should be known. Please share them.