Hi, I have just joined the list thanks to the Macoupin County web pages. All my genealogy research has been in the UK since I only move to Pennsylvania relatively recently. My great-grandmother only had one brother, James BIRDSALL born 1826, Pontefract, Yorkshire, England. Their father was James Birdsall. I knew nothing else about James, the son, and assumed he had died young. Then, a Yorkshire deed was unearthed dated 1858 which said that he was a store keeper in Alton, IL. This was confirmed by the 1861? Madison County directory. Then by chance a search gave me "James BIRDSALL, Jr., 1871 Madison County" for Chesterfield Township, Macoupin County from the 1875 Atlas of Macoupin County. My thanks to whoever was responsible for putting those details onto the Web. At this point I do not know whether the James Birdsall who moved to Chesterfield County in 1871 was the James who was born in England or his son. I hope I can discover James' descendents and possibly some American cousins. I will need to pick up details about US genealogy on the way, so please bear with me. Sincerely, Frank Birdsall Lake