I am new to this list. I hope that someone can help me. My g-g-grandfather was John Higgins. All I know about him is that he was born in Cork. (Don't know if that is City or County.) He immigrated to New York City with his parents. His parents died shortly after arriving and he went to an orphanage. He was "turned out" at the age of 15. He married Amelia (Emilie) Zengler and had my g-grandfather in 1895. My grandmother was raised devoutly Catholic, so I am assuming that my g-g-grandfather was. If not, he was probably in a Catholic orphanage. I have tried every website I can find. Does anyone have any suggestions?? I am going to write via "snail mail" to some of the orphanages in NYC. I also have ordered the 1900 census records to come to my local Family Search Center. Is there anything else I can do? Does anyone know of a branch of their family that left Ireland and "disappeared"? Any suggestions will be appreciated. Angela Camelbeek camelbeek@yahoo.com Sworn to find my ancestors!!