Deborah, Thanks for checking on the Watkins records. I had received a link to a site where I downloaded the images of the death indexes for the surname Watkins and found a couple of candidates for the mystery uncle. I will order the actual death certificates from California to sort out which one is the right one. In terms of the birth records you found, I don't believe he was born in California -- he was most likely born in Chicago and the moved out west with my grandparents ca 1920. But thanks for checking anyway! Mike Phelps