Hi Simone, Great news form the town clerk! Remember even though the census said Elizabeth R it could have been a B mistranscribed as a R as they didn't catch the bottom curl of the letter. It happens often, as there is overwriting on the images or fade outs, etc. Thanks for the offer of help for my Joneses, however they are all from North Wales... Jennifer In a message dated 2/25/2005 10:29:52 AM Eastern Standard Time, hatsandhandfans@yahoo.com writes: I called the Abington Town Clerk this morning, and the Clerk found the birth certificate for James William Coombes for me. It was exciting! It appears James W. never sent in the correction, and the name on it was spelled as "Coombs," instead of "Coombes," and the birth date is December 22, 1867, which I did not have. The mother is listed as "Elizabeth B." not the "Elizabeth R." that shows up in the census, and I found out the father was a shoemaker at that time, another piece of info I did not have. The Clerk said both John B. and Elizabeth B. are listed as having been born in Boston. I have a friend in South Wales who might be able to help you with your Wales research on the Joneses. Simone HatsAndHandFans@Yahoo.com