Lois - thanks for looking - I have the 1870/80 census pages. I also have Chicago Voter Registration records which list him as entering Chicago and IL in 1857. I can't find an 1860 census - was there one?

Church - no idea - I believe they were Catholic.

Don't know date of death, though I believe that it was around 1905. I will try to find childrens birth records with IL.

I thought that the blacksmith thing was the way to link them up - do you think that is a clue?