I am traveling in early June leaving here the last week in May. I do not know much. My Uncle Bruce was a great guy. His wife, my Aunt, is gone and his daughter died young with no children. I am putting his info into my family history because I want something of him to go on. He was born in E. St. Louis, Feb 1893. He went to E. St. Louis years ago to see if he could find his birth cert. but could not get it. It was told him that he was delivered by a midwife and she probably did not record it. On the 1900 Census it has a Louis J. Syarse as a grandson born the same month and year as my Uncle Bruce (middle name James). Uncle Bruce told me his father and mother moved to Atlanta, GA.. So far I haven't found them listed in the city directories. I was told that he had a brother Herbert. My uncle had a career in the Navy served in WW I & was called back for WW II. I have his service number but cannot get any info because I am a niece and no one else is alive. By the way I found his Grandfather's marriage Bruce H. to Mary Hill, St. Gabriels Church, on line in Chicago Nov 1882. Going to write to them to see if they still have it. Thanks for all the comments. I am so grateful! Mary ----- Original Message ----- From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Sent: Tuesday, March 05, 2002 5:12 PM Subject: Re: [ILSTCLAI] East St. Louis Hi, Mary! My name is Gloria and I live in Florissant, MO just north of St. Louis, MO. The other email that warns you of E. St. Louis, while not without merit, doesn't really reflect what you need to worry about. I feel your first stop should be Belleville, IL - their Public Library has a great genealogy section with people who can help you find just about anything. Your major problem is going to be time. You could easily spend a whole day there. If you resubmit your request and give more details, there are folks on this list who will look up the data for you. Tell them approximately when you expect to be passing through so they know how long they have to look up stuff. There are those who do this all the time. But they need time to do it. You might put out a request and ask if someone would be able to help you get this info before you come. The more details the better. Some folks might have the info you need already. What you need to worry about is having enough quarters for parking and the copier at the library. If you decide you want to venture to E. St. L. just make sure you have a good map, lots of gas (there aren't that many gas stations) and a companion would be nice. Day light travel is recommended. Also, have you tried the rootsweb.com site for finding info? Also try several different spelling variations when you search. Happy hunting. Gloria