Thank you for responding, Cathy. I'm trying to figure out a reason that my ancestor might have ended up in Des Moines, Iowa in the 30s. Recently someone posted a message or inquiry about their "Smith's" who moved to Des Moines...and I guess I deleted that post without thinking. I have Smith's from Indiana....and no information that they were ever in Iowa, but aside from the possibility of my illustrious (NOT) ancestor simply being footloose and fancy free, it seems to me that there had to be a reason he went to D.M.....and it makes sense that either he had relatives there, or was following WPA jobs. Jules