Hello, Baltimore County list members: My g2-grandfather, Robert SHANNON, was born at Baltimore, MD (not sure it was actually the city) on September 22, 1820. His parents were presumably a Samuel SHANNON (born c. 1785) and wife Margaret __?__. These two supposedly met and married in Baltimore, after both immigrated there from Northern Ireland. Margaret may have been a second wife, as there seems to be an older son (or much younger brother of Samuel?) named William, born about 1811, also in NIR. Samuel (with William? and first wife?) is said to have embarked from Londonderry, date unknown, but I would guess after the end of the War of 1812. I suppose it is conceivable that William came separately, even after 1820? I am therefore looking for the following records: 1. Immigration and/or naturalization of Samuel SHANNON (and/or William). I understand that ship's passenger lists were not kept officially in Baltimore until 1820. Are there alternate sources, or a compilation of miscellaneous passenger lists from that period? A few, at least, must still exist? (Is there any way to research naturalization for that period, online? Does anyone have experience researching emigration records for NIR? These may be a bit off-topic for the list.) 2. Marriage record of Samuel and Margaret. I do not know the exact date, but Robert was the first child born to them, so I would guess it would have been 1818-1820. (If there was a first wife, and if she emigrated from NIR as well, there might also be a death or divorce record for her prior to this time?) 3. Birth record for Robert. I understand that birth and marriage records were kept by church parishes, rather than by governments. I did ask for these to be looked up by a volunteer, who had the published compilation of some church vital records for this period, but that produced no success (nothing with the surname SHANNON, I believe). I am not sure exactly which denomination they were, but Robert was eventually Methodist after his marriage. It would be as likely that Samuel and Margaret were Presbyterian or Episcopalian (whatever the Church of England had become by then), or possibly even Quaker? Does anyone have any recommendations for how to proceed in these matters? If you think that the Baltimore City list would have a different group of people with different ideas, I would appreciate this message being forwarded to that list (I am not doing it because duplications are a pain to receive, if there are many people subscribed to both.) I started with the county list, since there does not seem to be such a distinction between the history of the county and the city at the time in question. This assumption could be in error! Thanks and best wishes, David Shannon dshannon@prairie.lakes.com