This is about my great-grandmother, who was sent as a little girl from New York to Illinois to live with a German immigrant farm family by the names of Valentin and Maria Magadalena ROOS (sometimes, ROSS, ROSE, etc.) in Millstadt, St. Clair County, Illinois. We don't know my great-grandmother's original birth name, but we assume that it could be Caroline LORAN, based on the 1880 census, which also showed "adopted", "state of New York". All other subsequent records show her name as Carmelitta "Carrie" ROOS, born in New York City on June 1, 1876. The name Carmelitta Mary ROOS was apparently given to her by the ROOS family, and later shortened to Carmelite or Carme. Valentin and Magdalena ROOS were already in their 60's at the time of the 1880 census, and they had two grown daughtes still living at home with them, and so we assumed that Caroline could have been an illegitimate daughter of one of these two, but research has not been able to prove this, and all records show New York City as the place of Caroline's birth in 1876, while the ROOS family had lived continuously in St. Clair County from the time of their arrival in this country until the 1880 census, and subsequently. The 1880 census of St. Clair County, Illinois, also shows several other children from "New York" who were "adopted" by local farm families. No local adoption records have been found so far for Carmelite/Caroline LORAN or for ROOS. We have checked Orphan Train records and have researched through the Orpahn Train Society, but with no luck. The ROOS family did not tell Caroline/Carmelite much about her origins (maybe they didn't really know themselves). One time they told her that her biological parents were killed in a "car" accident (assuming that this meant streetcar or railroad car). Another time, they told her that her real surname was GORDON, and another time they told her JORDAN. One time they told her that her ancestry was Irish, and another time they told her that her ancestry was Spanish. She married at the young age of 19 to Louis MAURATH and had 3 children. She died in 1928 in St. Louis, MO at the young age of 52. You can see her wedding picture at ... http://zither.us/zitherist.louis.maurath This is one of those dead-end brick walls, as I've been researching for Caroline/Carmelite's origins since I was young, for over 30 years, and even hired researchers a couple of times, but with no luck. So, I just thought I'd throw this out there again, and maybe someone is researching for their ancestors young sister name Caroline LORAN who was sent away from the family, for whatever reason. Or maybe some new leads have appeared? So, if anyone out there has any other ideas or suggestions or can help in any way, I'm open to hearing from you, and would really appreciate it. Thank you so much. John Maurath St. Louis, MO [email protected] s ____________________________________________________________ Fast, Secure, NetZero 4G Mobile Broadband. Try it. http://www.netzero.net/?refcd=NZINTISP0512T4GOUT2