I am researching my grand father, Christian Ludwig Nielson. He was born Aug 7, 1847 in the Schleswig-Holstein area of Germany.At the time of his birth this area belonged to Denmark. His naturalization papers list him as German, but the family always insisted he was Danish. I do not know the town or province of his birth. He immigrated to the US in 1869 coming to Stockton, California. He stayed about 8 to 9 years then returned to S-H where he met and married Frederika Ihle. They settled down and bought a small Hotel but only stayed one year and returned to the US, Oakdale, California about 100 miles east of San Francisco. They farmed and raised a family of 9 children. They are buried in Oakdale Ca. And all of the children are dead. Christians father had a small house in S-H and Christian was an only child. Frederica=s father was a wealthy horse trader. He had a family of 5 children, 4 girls and 1 boy. The boy=s name was Carl and he immigrated to America with Christian and Frederika and never married but made his home with them.There are cousins in Germany according to family stories but no one knows where. One possibly in Dusseldorf. Another a second cousin in San Francisco. Her name was Gertrude Heilfron, her married name was Mrs Roy Frances. Frederika=s mother=s madian name was Syne Hansen. Sometimes they spelled their last name with (sen). Any information would be appreciated, even places to look for information. Klem Nielson Oakdale, Ca. kniel@gotnet.net --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? The New Yahoo! Shopping - with improved product search