This is an old posting, but I here goes.....

My Great Grandfather was Lawrence William Burns b. 1854 in New York and moved to Iowa City when he was a boy.

He was married twice. First wife was Mary Downey. They had three children. The oldest was a girl named "Nellie" or Ellen. Ellen married a Theobald.

Lawrence's second wife was Mary McCune. They had 5 children. One of them was John Joseph Burns, who was my mother's Uncle. He lived in California for many years. According to my mother, when he got older he moved back to Iowa and lived with his half sisters, a couple of the Theobald girls.

I have a little more information regarding the Burns side. Please contact me if you get this, we might be able to untangle this a bit.

Best regards,
Rich