Do a separate search for each mailing list and for each year that such mailing list is archived. Some messages date back to as long ago as 1987. When choosing a promising list to search, be creative and thorough. Don't limit yourself to just surname hunts. While looking for a particular ancestor, check out also the mailing lists that relate to country of origin, places of habitation, migration routes, ethnic group and general interest topics, such as the Roots-L list .
Wonderful gems turn up in the most unlikely places.
USGenWeb Archives National Search. Search a large variety of material, including census records compiled by the USGenWeb Project, the largest volunteer genealogy project on the Web. U.S. Town and County Database. To find the name of the county. Search the names of millions of ancestors in family trees submitted by other genealogists.