Jeannette - do you have any ages for these people to help us narrow the search? Unfortunately, we're not just up against a very common surname and forenames, so unless he was here when a census was taken or perhaps worked and appears in a city directory, it may be impossible. Ellen Virginia USA -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of [email protected] Sent: Sunday, September 23, 2012 7:43 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [MDX] US records. Up till now I've had no experience with US records at all, being under the impression that none of my ancestors ever went there. But, I've just found a letter from my elusive Thomas William Portland SMITH in which he states that "the happiest three years of my life were spend in the United States..." . I've got no idea which part of the US he means, but the era would have been during 1841-1860 approximately. Can anyone on the list give me any ideas about where to start searching? It's likely that he went there with his parents, Robert & Barbara SMITH, who were Irish. The last address I have for them is Stepney, London in 1841. I realise that Smith somewhere in the US is a big ask!! Jeanette ************************************** Send your List messages using **PLAIN TEXT** and always **TRIM AWAY** superfluous old messages in replies. **MEANINGFUL Subject Lines - who, what, where, when, with SURNAMES in CAPITAL letters** List Admin can be contacted at: [email protected] ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message