I too found a family history "quirk" that ended up causing me countless hours of research time, searching in the wrong places. My grandfather died in an Iowa rock quarry accident at age 21 back in the 1920's. He left a 19 year old widow and a baby son. Apparently he never spoke with his young wife about his family history much. She only knew his father and step mother who lived across the river about 20 miles away. A dispute with them a few years later caused a permanent rift and both sides lost contact with each other forever. That baby son never got the chance to know his father's family. 65 years later, I took up the hunt for my dad (that very baby boy who lost his dad). I told him I'd find who his grandparents were and where they came from. First, I got a copy of his own parent's marriage certificates: But in his dad's family section, for "mother's name" it was written "does not remember". Next, I ordered a copy of his death record from the rock quarry accident. On that document it was written: Born: Macomb Mother: Mary Ingram I don't know who wrote those down, but it caused me about two years of misplaced research. His mother's real name (found years later on a divorce document in Knox, Co. Maquon, IL) was Etta "May" INGRAM. I have a feeling the person who told the coroner "Macomb" must have meant "Maquon". We'll never know who gave the information to the coroner, but perhaps it was a very distraught, very poor, teenaged widow - left alone with a new born baby; My dear grandma. In a message dated 3/31/2004 1:45:23 AM US Eastern Standard Time, [email protected] writes: Shawnnee and all others, Your discoveries are very interesting and provoking in terms of trying to get the facts straight. Although I cannot disclose the actual facts because my father is still living, I am faced with a similar situation. His birth certificate is recorded in Hancock County, Illinois. However, he has told me that he and his brother were both born in St. Joseph Hospital in Keokuk, Lee County, Iowa. Because their uncle was either the doctor who delivered them or involved with the deliveries, he had their births recorded in Illinois. Just a quirk perhaps but something that also adds to the mysteries we deal with in trying to delve into the truths involved with our pasts. Debby ==== ILHANCOC Mailing List ==== Hancock County web site: http://www.rootsweb.com/~ilhancoc/ Rock Island County web site: http://www.rootsweb.com/~ilrockis/