Updated information: Still searching for help on my gggrandfather, William T. Bird, b. about 1845. He married Julia Sarah Hatton August 15, 1869 in Pope County, IL. They had two boys, ages 8 and 11, before William died at age 37 in 1882. Their mother had to post $100 bond Guardians Bond ( I guess so that she could keep them.) Didn't women have any rights in Illinois back then? The children were my ggrandfather, Walter W. Bird, b. November 23, 1873, and his older brother, Hal L. Bird, b. 1870, also of Pope County. Walter died in 1908 in Rose Bud, Pope County, IL, at the age of 35, leaving two young boys, himself. It seems that the male Bird side of my family tree usually didn't make it past the age of 40! Marla Moore