Some help with genealogy please?

[Coinneach]

Some people do just seem to disappear. My cousin finally found our great grandmother by searching the census in the location she was supposed to be in page by page. She had been taken in by an Aunt when her parents were both gone. What we know her as turned out to be her middle name...at least in the census. That's a long and arduous process and is not recommended unless all other searches have failed.

The SSDI (Social Security Death Index) will indicate for either parent if SS benefits were requested by either. It will give the death date. Always send off for a copy of the official record, if you can. There may be other clues on them.

If you have a birth date and place for your father...that, with his mother's maiden name might get you a birth certificate from the state where he was born. You may also be able to search for marriage records for his mother in that location.

And yes, do try to account for misspellings of the surname.

Genealogy is a great treasure hunt sometimes, so don't give up. I thought my grandfather's mother was going to be a dead end. Turns out she was a cousin once removed of a US President. But I don't jump up and down about it...he wasn't that great.

Good luck.

[gilmore]

Some people do just seem to disappear. My cousin finally found our great grandmother by searching the census in the location she was supposed to be in page by page. She had been taken in by an Aunt when her parents were both gone. What we know her as turned out to be her middle name...at least in the census. That's a long and arduous process and is not recommended unless all other searches have failed.

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You don't have to do that any more. At ancestry.com you just type in the name, click a search and get a list of hits.

[Cawdorian]

If you know the county or state where your father's family resided, you may be able to find a county historical society that can provide some information on the family, you may be able to locate some cousins of both families that you were unaware of. Most people who supply information to these organizations have some interest in genealogy and may be willing to share or help you locate information. I have found quite a bit of family information using these resources.

I had a Y DNA test performed to help isolate my father's family line because my GGF did not show up on my records such as the census etc. In some ways the test only added to the confusion, but it did help me through a brick wall. What we determined is that my DNA does not match anyone with my surname who participated in my surname project (about 50 males). What we did find was a case of surname adoption, we were able to confirm that my GGF was adopted. (my surname project is very open and is willing to share information) Now the problem is that the surname project for my GGF's biological surname is very tight and close with information, I have not been able to get information from them. The DNA test did redirect our research and enable us to find the adoption, but I am unable to confirm the line with Y-DNA until someone unlocks the information.

[Coinneach]

You don't have to do that any more. At ancestry.com you just type in the name, click a search and get a list of hits.

That's the way it should work, but every once in a while a person falls through the cracks. I should have mentioned, too, that the name we were looking for was now a middle initial in the census. It might not have mattered anyway...when she passed on, there were two newspaper stories and her name was spelled differently in each one and neither matched what was on her gravestone. It's what makes genealogy fun and keeps us young at the same time.