Michele, My ggf was born in 1898 in Braceville also. I had the same problem with a birth certificate and birth certificates were not required at that time. Later, during the depression, there was a project to "reconstruct" missing birth certificates for anyone living at the time. It so happened that my ggf and one of his brothers had died prior to this. So only 2 of the sons have birth certificates registered in Grundy Co. What you might try is the 1900 census. If the family was still living in the area, they should be listed in the census. Braceville is in Grundy Co., Braceville Township, Supr District #2, Enum District #42. The census and my ggf's marriage certificate were the only 2 documents I had to work with when I started my search. Since then I have uncovered tons of information on his family. I would be interested in any information you might find about the churches in Braceville at that time. Carolyn > HI, > Just received a marriage application that states the groom was born 1898 in Bracerville, IL.. I have already written to the county and they have no record of the birth in Bracerville . My next step is to try and find any churches that might have serviced the area during the time period that might have held the baptizm. > Does any one have access to a 1898 city directory that lists the Churches? and can someone please look up the name > Ignatius/ Ignatz etc MACHO / MACK and John Mack in the directory also... I really need some help with this line... > any suggestions?.....Michele > > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 >