Greeting to all on The List and a request for help. For many years I have searched for the birthplace and birth date of my Grandfather and his parents. I started stumbling around with this in 1984 and I had a pencil. Just in the last year a friend located a civil Marriage Certificate for him and his wife. On June 13 1878 CHARLES E. VALENTINE, 24 b. NYC and his bride, ANN McCLOSKEY b. England 1851, were wed at “St. Lucy - (St. Louis) St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church, 285 Willoghby Ave., in the City of Brooklyn” His birth place is given only as “New York City” and his occupation “Hatter“, address for bride and groom is “94 Skillman” His birth year varies in later census‘s from 1852 to 1856. The marriage certificate provided no further info on his parents other than Father: “CHARLES E., Mother: CATHERINE” >From 1878 forward they lived in Norwalk, CT, had 3 boys and 4 girls and they are buried in St. Mary’s RC Church Cemetery, Norwalk, CT. His 1918 Death Certificate: “Charles E. Valentine, b. Brooklyn, NY 1856. d. 1-21-1918 Norwalk, CT” In the 1870 Census he is listed as CHARLES VALENTINE, 18, b. NY, Occ. “ Hatter.” On the line above him in that 1870 census is a Jesse Caulwell, 20 b. NY, Occ Hatter. It would seem these two boys “probably” came together seeking work in the Norwalk Hat manufacturing centers and they were from the same neighborhood in Brooklyn and are living in a Norwalk, CT rooming house. But I could not find a link. In census listing from 1978 he is always recorded as “b. NY” or “b. Brooklyn. It seems he was born in Brooklyn in 1854. In 1870 he went to Norwalk, CT which was a Hat mfg. City to find work. Probably from time to time he returned to Brooklyn to visit his parents. While in Brooklyn he met Ann McCloskey and fell madly in love with this Auburn haired beauty who had arrived from England in 1875. They decided to marry in o Brooklyn. He then whisked his bride back to Norwalk, CT where they had their first child in 1879, some 11 months after the wedding. Their last son was my father, Francis William Valentine, b. 1889. Norm Valentine, PA **************Get the scoop on last night's hottest shows and the live music scene in your area - Check out TourTracker.com! (www.tourtracker.com?NCID=aolmus00050000000112)