Dear Listers, with your help, I have been narrowing down the possible John Richards from Maine who might have been my great-grandfather. At this point, it is clear that my John Richards, John Albert Richards, was born 25 Oct 1865. Where in Maine he was born is another question. Perhaps his family left Maine before 1870 or 1880. But it looks as though John Richards might have gone to California with another Richards from Maine whose full name was Silas Curtis Richards, born in 1861 in Maine. Neither John Albert Richards nor Silas Curtis Richards are in the IGI (which is probably a good sign if they were brothers or cousins). According to the Great Registry of Merced County where both are listed in 1892, both John and Silas are the only Richards from Maine in Merced County at this time, they have similar apparences, and they are close in age. Could some kind soul check for Silas Curtis Richards in the Maine census from 1880? I'm hoping that perhaps John Albert Richards might turn up nearby, perhaps under the name Albert Richards (I have another ancestor named Samuel Jasper Jackson who is listed as Jasper, so who knows?) Thanks in advance. Jeff Richards Muenster, Germany