Hi Mark, Here's a couple suggestions for doing free US research. The first thing I'd check is the Social Security Death Index. Not everyone is in it (and only those who are dead! LOTS of jokes about people complaining they aren't in it <grin>). It's free on line at a number of places. One is our host, rootsweb (www.rootsweb.com). You can find it to the left of the'front page' or .... SPLAT! http://ssdi.rootsweb.com/ go here. Click on "Advanced Search" and type in what you know. You probably know her last name was BLACK unless she remarried or entered the witness protection program or took another one just to confuse us. You know she died in March but not what year. You figure she used Lillian as a first name. She was last known to be in Tennessee, so maybe that's a good place to start -- lets assume she died there. I did that and got nothing. I removed TN, looking for a Lillian Black who died on any day in March. ZILCH. I then tried the last name of Palmer. ZILCH again. What does this mean? It means that something in the oral history is probably wrong. It usually is. Something's wrong -- maybe LIllian Black is still alive or she remarried, etc, etc.... SOmething is always wrong, so it's not surprising. You can often find free resources in the USA using www.usgenweb.com . It has a webpage for every state and county. Check the archives to see if obits, etc, are posted on line. Your friend can post a search for her at rootsweb at the Rootsweb surname list: http://rsl.rootsweb.com/ I then checked the 1930 census at www.ancestry.com . No Lillian Palmer born in Ireland. No Lillian Black, no Lillian Doonan. So she probably wasn't here in 1930. Your friend needs to hoof it down to the local vital records office there in Belfast and get her birth certificate. Once he knows her age and date of birth, that might help locate her in the SSI (search for everyone b. on that day). The other thing is who knows what they listed as their country of origin? "Ireland"? UK? .... I checked and plenty said they were born in the Northern Ireland and people did use it. I looked for a James Palmer b. in Northern Ireland and found one but he has the wrong wife: James Palmer Age: 59 Estimated birth year: abt 1871 Birthplace: Northern Ireland Relation to head-of-house: Head Spouse's Name: Minnie Palmer Race: White Home in 1930: Chicago, Cook, Illinois Lots of people gave Ulster as a place of birth. No James Palmers however. You'll need her date of birth to find her in the SSI. Once you find her there, you can print out a letter that'll order (with a small fee) her application. The SSI application gives all kinds of personal info and will prove its her or not. You will know the place of death when you find her in the index. You can look for a obit in the paper that will name and possibly give the location of survivers. He might find Randy by googling. You can often get phone numbers, etc, as well as by leaving messages on various INternet boards, esp. any on Northern Ireland -- places that Randy or a descendent might think to check if they only knew the family was from NI. Linda Merle ---------- Original Message ---------------------------------- From: MARK THOMPSON <wmthompson@btinternet.com> Date: Wed, 1 Feb 2006 10:08:51 +0000 (GMT) >Hello all, >I'm trying to track down some info for a friend - >Arthur Donnan - in County Down: > >Lillian Donnan emigrated from Portavogie, Co Down, >with her aunt and uncle Agnes and James Palmer, in the >1930s or 1940s. Lillian changed her surname to Palmer >and started work in Feb 1941 for a company called >Genesco. > >She married an American, Newton Parker Black (address >was 3506 Pleasant Valley, Nashville TN37204). They had >no children. but we know of a nephew - Randy Black - >who is said to live in Miami. > >Lillian's last contact with her family in Ulster was >late 80s / early 90s; she died on March 18th (year >unspecified) and is buried in a Nashville cemetery. > >Any help appreciated. > >Regards, >Mark > > > ________________________________________________________________ Sent via the WebMail system at mail.fea.net