I would like to thank everyone in this wonderful newsgroup for their help. This is my first venture into American family history and I am delighted with just how much information is available at your fingertips. I have been tracing the PALMER family since 1981. All in England up until recently. Matthew PALMER arrived in Waukegan in 1852 with his wife Eliza and eight children. Another daughter was born the same year they settled in Waukegan. In 1854, Charles WHITEHEAD and his new bride Susannah joined the family in Waukegan, Lake Co. and they settled in Avon, Lake Co.. Charles WHITEHEAD was a Farmer and his ancestors had been Farmers in Easton-on-the-Hill for many generations. Susannah was Matthew PALMER's niece. Susannah's father John PALMER was Matthew's older brother. John was also a Gamekeeper in Easton-on-the-Hill, a village on the same Burghley estate where Matthew worked. The Burghley Estate stands right on the border of Northamptonshire, Lincolnshire and Rutland. Yes, the Estate is still there and the magnificent house full of priceless works of art is still open to the public. I have been there and I still have the guide book. Frederick PALMER, Susannah's brother, travelled out with the newly wed couple. According to a family legend, Frederick is said to have perished in the Civil War, but so far I have not been able to locate him. Matthew PALMER was actually born in Mundford, Norfolk in 1807. The gentry never used local men as Gamekeepers and they didn't like them marrying local girls. I expect they were afraid that their Gamekeepers may turn 'blind eyes' to a spot of family poaching if they were local men. Another brother, George, may also have been a Gamekeeper. Research on George's life is in progress...... If anyone else is tracing this family's origins, I have extensive records going back to 1685 in Mundford, Brandon, Thorndon, Barningham and Stoke Ash in Suffolk, England. Thank you one and all and happy hunting to you all, Jean Palmer in Victoria, B.C. Canada. P.S. I was born in the town of Northampton, England.