I posted a small part of this request a few days ago, but I'm resubmitting & trying to follow suggestions Betty and others gave for queries on the Mass-Essex list. WHAT I KNOW WILLIE BENOIT-LAURA HOULE family Laura HOULE, born 20 Mary 1887 in Nicolet, QC, daughter of Amedee Houle and RoseAnna Doucet, (baptized Marie Emma Laura Houle) was my grandfather’s younger sister, and has been a mystery in more than 12 years of researching. Some info has been found through letter-writing, but what I have is very limited. She had a serious drinking problem and the family apparently cut off contact with her, so that my mother and my uncle had only vague memories of them, even if they lived only blocks away. (1) Laura married Willie BENOIT on 28 May 1906 in Ludlow MA where both worked in mills. (full name, Joseph William Benoit) (2) Census reveals that in 1910, they lived in Springfield, MA and had one son, Freddie. Census of 1920 shows them living in Lawrence, MA. They’ve added 4 children, 2 born in Canada. I have baptismal/birth records for the 2 born in Canada (Irene, Edward), but not those born in US (Rita, Edna). The 1930 Census of Pontiac MI shows another daughter, born around 1922 or 1923 (she’s 7 at the census), living with a bachelor uncle, her mother’s brother Emile. WHAT I NEED: I am still trying to complete information for this family, after 12 years of searching, so ANY help will be appreciated. (1) Gladys BENOIT, the youngest child - for whom I recently posted a query. Looking for her BIRTH, most likely in Lawrence, and/or baptism (Ste Anne’s in Lawrence, I would guess). My mother (deceased) recalled vaguely that she was 4 or 5 years younger than her, putting her birth year at 1922 or 1923. Also, 1930 census gives her age as 7. (2) Births of two siblings, Rita BENOIT (age 3 11/12 at 1920 census, so born around 1916), and Edna (age 9 mos at 1920 census, birth in 1919). (3) DEATH of the mother, my aunt Laura HOULE. One e-mail correspondent thought she had seen that name at Sacred Heart Cemetery in No. Andover, MA. Since Gladys was living with her godfather, Laura’s death would be between 1923 and 1930. Would love to find an obit, but need date of death first. (4) Where was Willie BENOIT in the 1930 census? And the other children? My mother recalled that her cousin Freddie had run away with the circus. He would have been 21 by then, so it's quite possible! Would he show up in census data elsewhere? (5) In the 1920 census, Laura is a naturalized citizen. She was not in the 1910 census. Any chance I can find that record somehow? Thanks for whatever help you can give Sister Therese Gregoire Lacombe, Louisiana _________________________________________________________________ Send e-mail faster without improving your typing skills. http://windowslive.com/online/hotmail?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_hotmail_acq_speed_122008