William Anderson was born in Ireland in 1868. Finding where sounds hopeless, right?

William (no middle name or middle initial) Anderson was the paternal grandfather of my friend, Margie. After coming to America as a young adult, William settled in Kansas City, married, raised a family, and died there in 1937.

Her question to me this weekend revolved around exactly where the family lived. I helped her decipher the census-taker's notes for 1910 and 1920. The censuses didn't tell the whole story, but Margie's research ultimately confirmed the families of her father (the Andersons) and her mother (the Blacks) resided on the same street in the 1920s. That's how her parents met! The two houses still stand on Lydia Ave, per Zillow.

While Margie didn't inquire of me about William Anderson's Irish origin, I couldn't resist looking. William's widow provided reliable birth details about him on his death certificate. Date of birth: April 7, 1868. Birthplace: Ireland. Parents: William Anderson and Elizabeth Fife. 

With that information, his birthplace was amazingly easy to find on FamilySearch:

Ancestry trees created by someone in England claim the townland is Ballylummin. No source is cited, but it seems reasonable based on this map from townlands.ie. Ballylummin comprises just 1.78 acres.