Hi Steve, Seems to me that only the 1900 Census reports that Oliver was born in Kentucky, and the rest [1910, 1920 & 1930] all state he was born in IL. The possible error might be that his mother was born in Sweden, and she maybe did not have good command of English. Birth certificates were not required in Illinois in 1900, and you might have better luck with church records [look for churches around where they lived in 1900, for which ever church they may have attended - Lutheran, Catholic, etc]. Your friend might also send for Oliver's application for his Social Security number. That might be the easiest and best proof available. Hope this helps, Sharon Buethner On 10 Jan 2007 at 20:58, STEVE TAMMY HARDY wrote: I'm helping a friend, her grandfather Oliver Pepper was born 24 Mar 1900 possibly in Chicago Illinois. Is there a vital records database that someone can look at to verify that he was born in Chicago, every Census he reports his birthplace as Kentucky, but the family says he was born in Chicago. The reason we don't look in Kentucky is we don't have a county in Kentucky, just Kentucky. Thanks for any help. ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to COOK-CO-IL-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message