Hi Susan, Thank you for your reply. I may fire off a letter of inquiry to Eau Claire County and see what happens. A similar situation happened to us when we wrote to the state of Iowa requesting some vital record for one of my wife's relations. After several months we received a formal certificate, suitable for framing, proclaiming that the document we had requested could not be found! On a visit to the county courthouse, I found it for my wife in about 15 minutes. I hope to visit the Altoona area someday and perhaps my questions will be answered then. Good luck and good genealogy, Reid