r/Genealogy

Ancestor born in rural Appalachia in the 1750s? Sure he has a middle name! Why wouldn't he? Of course it also happens to be his brothers name, but ignore that.

Ancestor born in 1805 with no evidence of any middle name to be found? Well of course they had one! See right here on their FindAGrave profile where it says they did! The headstone just has a First & Last name? But you can trust FindAGrave! Let me just copy that down onto my tree.

You can't find any document that includes so much as a middle initial for this ancestor born in the 1700s? Well my great-grandmother's research says that he definitely had a middle name so it must be true.

You say I've combined two different men? No no no! You have it all wrong! Clearly there is only one man named John James and all these records refer to him! Yes, all of them! No, I know that he is only referred to as John or James, never both, but everyone knows that there can only be one man of that surname in a single place! And my grandpa always said he was descended from a Revolutionary War Veteran and only James has the evidence so there must be only one guy. You aren't calling my grandpa a liar are you?

Anyone else have a Genealogical Complaint they would like to air? Because this one currently has me tearing my hair out (and the FindAGrave managers aren't helping in the slightest)

My mother passed away in January. I was going through her things and came across her documents. I found my parent's marriage license. Under the section "times previously married" my father's said none but my mother's said one. I had no idea my mother was previously married. My father is still alive but has advanced dementia and doesn't even remember my mother. My mother doesn't have any living family and/or family I'm still in contact with. I would really like to find out how I can go about seeing if my mother was previously married. I would assume the marriage would have been in Michigan. As far as I know, she lived her whole life in Michigan. If she was married previously and never told me, it could be possible I have a sibling I don't know about. How would I go about finding these records? I could only hazard a guess the city or county the marriage would have taken place in.

Hello everyone,

I’m adopted, and so was my birth father. I’ve been working with a DNA search angel, taken a DNA test to confirm connections, and I’ve researched the family tree myself.

I’ve been able to confirm who my great-grandparents are, and I know that one of their children is definitely the father of my birth father. I’m trying to figure out which one, mainly for my own closure.

At this point, I’ve narrowed it down to five possible sons, but I’m not sure what the best next step is to determine which one is my birth grandfather. I would really appreciate any guidance, advice, or tips on how to move forward.

Thank you so much! ^_^

I’m writing a family history book with individual biographies for each person from parents to my 10th+ great grandparents. This book is something I’m creating for myself, my children, and my siblings and their families. I’ve also been happy to share what I’ve found with any relatives who’ve shown interest.

Where I’m struggling is with how to handle more sensitive discoveries, particularly about my grandparents, great-grandparents, and extended relatives. I’ve come across things like secret children (often after divorces), possible affairs involving my grandfather that were spoken about when I was younger, the loss of a child my grandmother experienced, and even rumours involving accidental death, suicide, and murder.

Because these involve close family members especially my grandparents I’m unsure how best to approach conversations with relatives. I don’t think asking about something like my grandfather’s affairs would necessarily cause harm, but I do want to be respectful while also seeking honest perspectives. At the same time, this is my history too, and I feel a strong desire to understand it fully.

I know some are baseless with no truth but other's I'm not sure about. I really want to know more about my grandparents speculations as it directly relates back to how they got together and all.

EDIT: I should also add my Grandmother was adopted by her elder half-sister after their father abandoned her and Mom died in childbirth. Because of this my great-aunt never told anyone about their Dad to us and they hate that. For this I believe they would want to tell me everything because they know what it feels like to have secrets.

This has been bugging me for months and months. I've been able to trace almost every person on my family tree way further back, except these ones.

Their last name was Bress (not sharing everything for privacy, but I might end up doing so if I get desperate enough), and they immigrated to New York (my mom said most of her family came through Ellis Island, but idk) in the 1880s or 1890s. I asked my mom about it, and she said that Bress wasn't their original last name and was changed when they immigrated. She doesn't know what it was though, which makes things so much harder. From what I've found (only info I've been able to find is in the US and NY censuses), they lived in New York City and potentially came from Russia or Lithuania. And that's pretty much it. There's nothing!

Where can I go to find information on them? I cannot find ANYTHING, which is really confusing.

I got my ancestry results and an unexpected amount of Mediterranean DNA popped up. Like around 8%. I also found a 1st cousin once removed with 40% Levant DNA mixed with British DNA and Mediterranean DNA, we share Cyprus and Anatolia. Most surprisingly, it says my uncle is my half uncle… I also didn’t inherent any of the Cornish DNA on my grandfathers side which is a big percent.

It would make sense as to why my grandpa didn’t want anything to do with me since I was born.. my dad’s side is pretty messed up.

Hi there, I've been working on my family tree for a few years now (I’m from Spain) and I've found quite a lot of information on all my lines except for my paternal grandmother. Even though she's still alive, we don't know if the stories she’s always told us are true because we don’t find her birth certificate where is supposed to be, let alone her parents information plus it was postwar period and she tells us to leave the past alone. I'm desperate and don't know where else to look. Lately, each day of unsuccessful searching makes me feel more anxious and frustrated, and when I get an email from another civil registration saying they don’t find her nor her brother (we suspect it’s actually her half-brother) I burst into tears as if I've failed yet again. I suppose I've become a little bit obsessed with finding anything about them, and it's affecting me emotionally. I kinda want to give up and change hobbies (I’m 25yo). Any advice on how to proceed or handle this?

I have recently started looking into family history, i have been using scotlands people because im from scotland,

basically what I have been doing so far is putting my great grandparents names into the site and finding marriage/births/death records and using that to get thier parent's names, probably not the best way of doing it but It seems to be working

open to any tips aswell

its all super cool yet confusing at the same time

Hi everyone,

I’m trying to track down records related to my grandfather and his family from East Prussia, and I’ve hit a wall. I’d really appreciate any help or guidance on where else to look or how to interpret the little I’ve found.

Known information:

• Grandfather: Walter Bernikow
  • Born: April 8, 1932
  • Birthplace: Groß Grieben, Osterode, Ostpreußen (modern-day Grzybiny, Warmińsko-Mazurskie, Poland) formerly Prussia
  • Source: 1953 German passport
  • Religion: Baptized Lutheran as an infant
• Mother: Auguste Bernikow (possibly maiden name Zevewsky or similar spelling)
  • Born: March 13, 1898 (location unknown, obituary says East Prussia)
  • Baptized Lutheran as an infant
• Parents’ marriage:
  • Auguste married John (maybe Johann of johannas?) Bernikow in 1931 according to her obituary (location unknown)

What I’ve found so far:

• According to Kartenmeister, Groß Grieben’s civil registry and Lutheran parish were in Rauschken (modern Ruszkowo): http://www.kartenmeister.com/preview/City.asp?CitNum=21023
• I’ve searched Ancestry, familysearch, and any other recomended place I can find for records but haven’t found anything for Walter’s birth (1932), Augeste's birth (1898), or the parents’ marriage (1931).
• I did find a record that might be relevant: https://www.szukajwarchiwach.gov.pl/de/jednostka/-/jednostka/15930519 This appears to be a 1936 death record for an infant named Kurt Bernikow, which matches family knowledge that Walter had a younger brother Kurt who died as a baby. However, the father’s name in the record according to r/Kurrent is “Iwan Bernikow”, which is confusing since I expected Johann/John.
• According to family lore both Walters grandfathers were killed in war, and it is known that his father was also KIA or MIA

Questions:

1. Does anyone have experience with records from Rauschken / Osterode district in the early 1930s? Are there complete gaps or missing years? I tried to get Walter's birth certificate via Standesamt 1 in Berlin and they informed me "The certificate I requested is not possible. Many civil registries were destroyed due to war. To our knowledge the Berlin State Archived also does not have the relevant documents."
2. Could “Iwan” realistically be used interchangeably with Johann/John in this region (possibly due to Russian/Slavic influence)? Research seems to indicate it is a Slavic version of John.
3. Where else might Lutheran baptism records from this area/time be held (if not in the standard Polish archives)?
4. Any tips for tracking down the 1931 marriage or confirming the mother’s maiden name (Zevewsky?)
5. Are there alternate spellings or indexing quirks I should be trying

I’m especially interested in:

• Birth/baptism/melderegister record for Walter (1932)
• Marriage record (1931)
• Any confirmation that the 1936 Kurt Bernikow record is the correct family

Thanks in advance—any help or direction would mean a lot!

My last name is Heldermon. My family is mostly German and I have been told it ment completely different things by different people. If someone could help me find the literal translation and the meaning that would be very helpful in the research of my family's background.

Bit of a longshot, but does anyone have access to a copy of this book? It’s about a church in Lancaster, Kentucky. A buddy is researching his family history.

I am fairly new to Genealogy since I’ve only been researching for a couple years now. I’m in the US and have access to all the “sites”.

My paternal Grandfather was born in Poland 1895 and immigrated here in 1912.

I can find very little information on his time in Poland and Zero on my Great Grandparents.

I have their names and the village my Grandfather is from.

Another mystery is my Paternal Grandmother who was “born in Chicago 1905 ” but I can find absolutely no documents on her until she married my Grandfather. Not in a census, nothing. She did not “exist” until 1935.

My dad, only child. found out after she died that she had been previously married. An uncle told him to let it go and don’t ask questions. No good would come of it.

He would never tell us about her past.

How can I find out information about someone who didn’t want to be found?

In all honesty, I’d stepped back for a few months due to roadblocks and frustrations. All my grandparents died when I was young and no information was passed down.

I just want to know my history and ancestors, do I have any relatives alive in Poland?

Any help or pointers on where to research next would be greatly appreciated. TIA

I'm doing some research into my wife's tree, and I found this rather odd marriage record fora William Bellomy in the Kentucky marriage records on Ancestry (Iink provided William Bellomy blank marriage on Ancestry It has his name on the record form, and then everything else is blank. No spouse, no dates, no signatures... It makes me wonder what happened here with this.

Was he registering and got abandoned at the office, or what?

Hi, I’m looking for some advice on a somewhat unusual genealogy situation.

My mom underwent IVF treatment in Bucharest around 2008-2009, and during that time she donated an egg to another patient. There was no formal documentation so we dont know anything about the recipients.

I understand that the chances are relatively low that this resulted in a child, but I’m still exploring the possibility.

I’ve ordered a DNA test (hasnt arrived yet) and plan to upload the results to multiple platforms.

My question is:

what would be the best strategy to maximize the chances of identifying a potential half-sibling (if one exists), especially given that this took place in Eastern Europe?

Any guidance would be appreciated.

Hi! I'm new to genealogical research, and I'm hoping to get some advice on how to proceed in sorting out some missing and conflicting info.

I'm hoping to write a book about my great-grandfather, who immigrated from Romania somewhere around 1900. His name, as recorded on his grave, was Edward La Zarr. He was a fascinating person, even if only 1/3 of the stories are true!

That's the crux of the issue. He was a master of re-invention, including reporting different information about himself for different official records. It leaves a gap of about 15 years between his arrival in the US and when he married my great-grandmother where I can't figure out where he was or what he was doing.

Some of what I've found so far:

• On his naturalization certificate from 1918, he reports that he was born in 1893 and arrived in New York on June 3, 1904, on board the ship Savoy.
• On the 1920 census, he reports that was born in 1894 and arrived in New York in 1897.
• On the 1930 census, he says he was born in 1895 and arrived in New York in 1898.
• He spells his last name Lazar, La Zar, and La Zarr. My grandmother believed his last name might originally have been Lazarovici or Lazarovitch. Edward might have been spelled Eduard, or his name might have actually been Ilia (Elijah).
• As far as anyone in the family knows, he immigrated alone, which makes the earlier dates pretty unlikely.
• The ship La Savoie, which sailed into Ellis Island frequently, wasn't built until 1900.
  • I've seen a photo of him standing on the dock in front of a ship that could be La Savoie, and he looks somewhere around 10-13 years old, which would line up with his naturalization declaration that he arrived in 1904.
  • But the Savoie's closest arrival in NYC to 6/4/1904 was on May 21, 1904, and there's no one with a name like his on the passenger rolls.
  • A 1910 city directory from Denver around that time that lists an Edward Lazar, employed as a cigar maker. But there is no Edward Lazar on the 1910 census in Denver -- or anywhere else -- that I can find. I've searched on just the last name, and variations, and can't find any records that seem to fit.

I'd really like to know what he was doing between the time he arrived in the US and when he married my great-grandmother. There's a family rumor that he spent some time in Mississippi working for a cousin, but he was definitely established in Denver by around 1916.

Does anyone have any advice on how to proceed?

So, my grandmother emigrated to Brazil and I have her parents immigration cards with their “westernized” names- no clue what they are in kanji… or how can I go about finding anything on her parent’s parents.

Does anyone know where I can look?

Hi everyone,

I’m trying to obtain Romanian citizenship by descent, but I’ve hit a roadblock and I’m hoping someone here has had a similar experience.

My grandfather was born in 1912 in a village called Kobolchyn (today in Chernivtsi region, Ukraine – Sokyriany district). At the time, this area was part of the historical region of Bessarabia/Bukovina and later became Romanian territory between 1918 and 1940.

I already contacted archives in Ukraine (Chernivtsi region) and I’m waiting for a response. I also contacted a Romanian legal service, but they refused my case because the birthplace is not in present-day Romania.

My questions:

Has anyone here successfully obtained Romanian citizenship with ancestors from Bessarabia/Bukovina (now Ukraine/Moldova)?

Where else should I search for birth records from that region around 1912?

Are church records (Orthodox, Jewish, etc.) a viable alternative?

Any tips for dealing with Ukrainian archives or hiring local researchers?

Any help or shared experience would mean a lot. Thanks in advance!

My Grandmother and four siblings emigrated to the U.S. (Detroit area) from Scotland after their mother’s death in 1911. The oldest son, William, was born in 1888, followed by Kate, 1885, James, 1891, Helen,1894 and my Grandmother, Agnes 1899. William got married to a woman from Scotland named Elizabeth, had a child that was premature and died at birth. He was a milkman in the Detroit area, and according to his death certificate , he died at age 32 in 1919 from influenza. Elizabeth went on to marry again in 1020’s but had no more children.

  Growing up we all knew our great Aunts and Uncles and their families but nothing about William, even my last remaining Aunt did not know he even existed. (she was born in 1941).  When I mentioned to her the Aunts name, my Aunt replied “That was Grandmas card playing buddy”

  After my Aunt passed I scanned all her old pictures, and I found a picture of 2 men in a horse drawn milk wagon, plus one of 3 men, another of 5 men, some of the same guys are in the same picture. Could one of them be Uncle “Bill”? ( Not knowing what he called himself)

Good evening,

I was wondering if anyone could clip the following articles relating to Mr. Ely's experiences during WWII?

This whole page and the top article of this page

Thanks for any help you can provide!

On my father's side, I have a fifth great grandfather. Over the course of 5 generations, two of his sons are among my fourth GG. Something like this happened on my mother's side as well. In this case, would my fifth GG appear twice in my tree as fifth GG?

Also, how would it be represented in a family tree?