This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: TomNelson33 Surnames: Rhodes Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.michigan.counties.wayne/19013.1.1/mb.ashx Message Board Post: Wow, "Georgia"! Thank you so much for your very thoughtful and informative post. I completely glossed over the "age at first marriage" column on the 1930 census. And if James Sr. and Mable didn't marry until 1927 or 1928, then Mable pretty much has to be James Jr.'s step-mother. Which lends credence to my "working theory" that Margaret (O'Connor) Rhodes was indeed his natural mother. Yes, it also shows that the '27-'28 marriage was the first one for his father, too, but that pretty much has to be informant or enumerator error. I would think! And if Mable was the "stay-at-home" mom, then SHE was most likely the informant and might not have known that Jimmy's mother - Margaret? - was born in Ohio. And you are probably correct about Jimmy's California death certificate. From the evidence of the "meager" obituary which was published, it looks like he died without any close family or anyone who would have known his family history. No, I think my best bet is to go for the Ohio birth certificate, the transcript of which I posted on Find A Grave: Ohio, Birth Index, 1908-1964 Name: James A Rhodes Birth Date: 22 Jan 1925 Birth Place: Portage State File Number: 1925009923 Additional Information: James The "birth place" and father's name "James" looks like this is the one! I have feelers out to the Health Department in Ravenna, Ohio which handles this stuff so we will see what they have to say. And I, too, thought of the city directories but there was nothing of value for this family in Ohio or Michigan. At least that I could find on Ancestry.com. If the birth cert. doesn't pan out, I will contact the Detroit library per your suggestion. So again, thank you so much for contributing to this quest. I feel like this is gonna be a winner! Tom Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.