Hi there, I am new to Ottawa Co. research. I have a relative, Joseph M. Weber, who died in Spring Lake in 1940 at age 89. I got his death certificate today and was disappointed that it doesn't tell me where in Germany he was born. I'm running out of ideas for sources to check. If I understand the citizenship process, he would have automatically been granted citizenship when his father was naturalized if that had happened while he was still a minor. But, Joseph was nearly 30 when his dad got around to finalizing his naturalization. I checked the citizenship index at NARA for Chicago where he was living at the time and couldn't find anyone that remotely resembled this guy. His obituary only says Germany. He probably didn't have a Social Security number since he died so soon after SS was created. At any rate, there is no SS# listed on his death certificate. Early censuses say he was born in Prussia, one of the last ones he was listed on does say what looks like "Rhineland Pfalz" which is promising, I sure hope it's right. But of course, I want the town. He was Catholic. That leaves me with only two more things to check: a will and his church. Does Ottawa Co. have a will index? I didn't find anything online so what procedure do I follow to request a search by mail? Anyone have any other ideas? I do not have an Ancestry.com subscription anymore (just got too expensive and the censuses weren't getting indexed (and still aren't from what I understand) like they were promising). Robin