Hello again In the East Dubuque St. Mary's Cemetery it says on the gravestones of my cousins Dorrance A. Pluym (1917-1962) and Eldon A. Pluym (1916-1974): "PFC CO C 63 INFANTRY REGT WORLD WAR II" and "SSGT US ARMY." Can anybody tell me what those abbreviations mean? Does anybody know how emigrants travelled from the New York harbor to Galena, Menominee and East Dubuque in Joe Daviess between circa 1880 and 1915? Was the rail road already built in 1880-1885? Were the bridges over the Mississippi River between East Dubuque en Dubuque already there? Was the rail road station in New York near the harbor or did they have to go through a part of the city? In the shipping lists of the Holland America Line from Rotterdam to New York, it says after 1900 (any older lists don't exist anymore), people bought their passage and contract for the American rail road over here, so you know they must have travelled by train. How long did those journeys take? I think a few days (2 or 3)? And what was the route? Another problem I have is dating pictures between circa 1910 and 1925, with children at their first communion. Over here, that happened in the first year at school, so one was 6 or 7 years of age. Thanks again. Happy holidays to all of you. Jan Melssen The Netherlands