In a message dated 1/14/2005 12:38:08 PM Eastern Standard Time, dendsley@wic.net writes: I'm stuck! I have several relatives who came to the Buffalo, New York area from Hesse Darmstadt / Alsace Lorraine about 1860, but I can't locate their birthplace or how they got to the US. Hi Dixie, If they are Catholic and had children Baptized at St. Mary's RC Church on Broadway in Buffalo, you might want to check the church records. For a period of time in the mid 1800's the hometowns of the child's parents were recorded in the St. Mary's Baptismal record. This was how my cousin was able to find our Great Grandparent's hometowns in Germany. St. Mary's Parish Records were filmed by LDS; the baptisms are on Film # 0928696. Joe Endicott, NY