Ancestry

Granny

Gold Member
Dec 14, 2009
3,143
815
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Rocky Top, TN
'Tis a puzzlement. I swear - I'm almost blind and crazy trying to get info about my Dad's family. Jesus crackers.

There's all kinds of info out there on my mother's family and little green leaves keep popping up all over the place, but I'm more interested in learning about Dad's family.

It's just the strangest thing. I've managed to identify my paternal grandfather's parents - but there is not one single thing about their entry into the US - other than it was in 1888 according to the 1900 censuses. You know, people came in at Ellis Island with a name, the immigration people couldn't understand the name so they took a wild guess ... and now they have a new name that might be close to their real name ... but maybe not. The censuses were all handwritten by the census takers, so depending on who was doing the census, you find more than one spelling of the same name AND you find your ancestors were Polish on one census, Prussian on another, and German on yet another.

I know the names of my paternal grandmother's parents because I have a copy of her application for Social Security - 1937. Do you think I can find them on a census? Noooo. I could see missing one census ... but ALL of the older censuses? I can't find them on the immigration records either. Do you have any idea how many people have passed through Ellis Island? And how many variations of names there are for the people who passed through?

It's fascinating and I've got my work cut out for me ... but it will give me something to do with my time.
 
'You know, people came in at Ellis Island with a name, the immigration people couldn't understand the name so they took a wild guess ...

That's what happened to one side of my Grandfather's family. The immigration people put the name of the town (in Norway) where the last name was supposed to be.
 
I have done exhaustive research on the Frogen lineage.

It would seem every last Frogen gets drunk and forgets what we did in life.

It is a very hazy and thus short lineage.

Though we seemed to have thrived under the Vikings.
 
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go to the graveyard...that is where you can gather a lot of info.....check soc sec death records etc....
google...the name and look for the variations in spelling...my name is odd...people change one letter and then...we have several branches of the family
 
go to the graveyard...that is where you can gather a lot of info.....check soc sec death records etc....
google...the name and look for the variations in spelling...my name is odd...people change one letter and then...we have several branches of the family

I like to get drunk in graveyards.

In Sicily they put the pictures of the dead on graves, I lived there for over four years and me and my best friend (or I and my best freind you anal retentive grammar fuck head) used to go up to the spectacular graveyards of that land, drink Vino Corvo by the bottle load and tell each other funny stories about how each person died.

I was not disrespecting the dead; I was trying to bring them back to life.

Or at least laugh at the Big Black we will all swim in.
 
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'Tis a puzzlement. I swear - I'm almost blind and crazy trying to get info about my Dad's family. Jesus crackers.

There's all kinds of info out there on my mother's family and little green leaves keep popping up all over the place, but I'm more interested in learning about Dad's family.

It's just the strangest thing. I've managed to identify my paternal grandfather's parents - but there is not one single thing about their entry into the US - other than it was in 1888 according to the 1900 censuses. You know, people came in at Ellis Island with a name, the immigration people couldn't understand the name so they took a wild guess ... and now they have a new name that might be close to their real name ... but maybe not. The censuses were all handwritten by the census takers, so depending on who was doing the census, you find more than one spelling of the same name AND you find your ancestors were Polish on one census, Prussian on another, and German on yet another.

I know the names of my paternal grandmother's parents because I have a copy of her application for Social Security - 1937. Do you think I can find them on a census? Noooo. I could see missing one census ... but ALL of the older censuses? I can't find them on the immigration records either. Do you have any idea how many people have passed through Ellis Island? And how many variations of names there are for the people who passed through?

It's fascinating and I've got my work cut out for me ... but it will give me something to do with my time.

I had the same damned problem, Granny, though I did get a bit further than you have. I had that free trial period and chose "worldwide records". Daddy was an immigrant himself, and his folks brought him here in 1927. Mommy I couldn't find diddly squat on -- I couldn't get past my own grandparents on her side.

Have you looked at the "Search All Sources" tab for everyone on the tree? That might turn up stuff like draft notices, etc. Even if you got no green leaves. Hit the individual's name and the tab should open.

Happy hunting!
 
'Tis a puzzlement. I swear - I'm almost blind and crazy trying to get info about my Dad's family. Jesus crackers.

There's all kinds of info out there on my mother's family and little green leaves keep popping up all over the place, but I'm more interested in learning about Dad's family.

It's just the strangest thing. I've managed to identify my paternal grandfather's parents - but there is not one single thing about their entry into the US - other than it was in 1888 according to the 1900 censuses. You know, people came in at Ellis Island with a name, the immigration people couldn't understand the name so they took a wild guess ... and now they have a new name that might be close to their real name ... but maybe not. The censuses were all handwritten by the census takers, so depending on who was doing the census, you find more than one spelling of the same name AND you find your ancestors were Polish on one census, Prussian on another, and German on yet another.

I know the names of my paternal grandmother's parents because I have a copy of her application for Social Security - 1937. Do you think I can find them on a census? Noooo. I could see missing one census ... but ALL of the older censuses? I can't find them on the immigration records either. Do you have any idea how many people have passed through Ellis Island? And how many variations of names there are for the people who passed through?

It's fascinating and I've got my work cut out for me ... but it will give me something to do with my time.

I had the same damned problem, Granny, though I did get a bit further than you have. I had that free trial period and chose "worldwide records". Daddy was an immigrant himself, and his folks brought him here in 1927. Mommy I couldn't find diddly squat on -- I couldn't get past my own grandparents on her side.

Have you looked at the "Search All Sources" tab for everyone on the tree? That might turn up stuff like draft notices, etc. Even if you got no green leaves. Hit the individual's name and the tab should open.

Happy hunting!

Fuck me this is great stuff!
 
check around....one of da man's cuz....had done a family history back to the 1770s...check the family bible...lots of records were kept in the family bible....
 
go to the graveyard...that is where you can gather a lot of info.....check soc sec death records etc....
google...the name and look for the variations in spelling...my name is odd...people change one letter and then...we have several branches of the family

That's all available at or through Ancestry. They have really done a lot of good stuff on there since I last had a membership. I love the pop-up windows on each individual with the info all typed up - but it also has the actual census page attached so that you don't have to go digging though tons of searches looking for the page you want. What I'd really like to be able to see is the 1890 census ... which was unfortunately burned up in fire. There are VERY limited pages that survived.

I've also thought about getting in touch with the church they attended. That could possibly yield some information.
 
go to the graveyard...that is where you can gather a lot of info.....check soc sec death records etc....
google...the name and look for the variations in spelling...my name is odd...people change one letter and then...we have several branches of the family

I like to get drunk in graveyards.

In Sicily they put the pictures of the dead on graves, I lived there for over four years and me and my best friend (or I and my best freind you anal retentive grammar fuck head) used to go up to the spectacular graveyards of that land, drink Vino Corvo by the bottle load and tell each other funny stories about how each person died.

I was not disrespecting the dead; I was trying to bring them back to life.

Or at least laugh at the Big Black we will all swim in.

The correct usage is "my best friend and I", JW.

And let's leave my azz out of these discussions, shall we?

*Winks*
 
go to the graveyard...that is where you can gather a lot of info.....check soc sec death records etc....
google...the name and look for the variations in spelling...my name is odd...people change one letter and then...we have several branches of the family

I like to get drunk in graveyards.

In Sicily they put the pictures of the dead on graves, I lived there for over four years and me and my best friend (or I and my best freind you anal retentive grammar fuck head) used to go up to the spectacular graveyards of that land, drink Vino Corvo by the bottle load and tell each other funny stories about how each person died.

I was not disrespecting the dead; I was trying to bring them back to life.

Or at least laugh at the Big Black we will all swim in.

The correct usage is "my best friend and I", JW.

And let's leave my azz out of these discussions, shall we?

*Winks*

Your grammar is fine, and I bet your ass finer.

Or is that more fine? You tell me.

As for your intellect, well that really shines.
 
'Tis a puzzlement. I swear - I'm almost blind and crazy trying to get info about my Dad's family. Jesus crackers.

There's all kinds of info out there on my mother's family and little green leaves keep popping up all over the place, but I'm more interested in learning about Dad's family.

It's just the strangest thing. I've managed to identify my paternal grandfather's parents - but there is not one single thing about their entry into the US - other than it was in 1888 according to the 1900 censuses. You know, people came in at Ellis Island with a name, the immigration people couldn't understand the name so they took a wild guess ... and now they have a new name that might be close to their real name ... but maybe not. The censuses were all handwritten by the census takers, so depending on who was doing the census, you find more than one spelling of the same name AND you find your ancestors were Polish on one census, Prussian on another, and German on yet another.

I know the names of my paternal grandmother's parents because I have a copy of her application for Social Security - 1937. Do you think I can find them on a census? Noooo. I could see missing one census ... but ALL of the older censuses? I can't find them on the immigration records either. Do you have any idea how many people have passed through Ellis Island? And how many variations of names there are for the people who passed through?

It's fascinating and I've got my work cut out for me ... but it will give me something to do with my time.

I had the same damned problem, Granny, though I did get a bit further than you have. I had that free trial period and chose "worldwide records". Daddy was an immigrant himself, and his folks brought him here in 1927. Mommy I couldn't find diddly squat on -- I couldn't get past my own grandparents on her side.

Have you looked at the "Search All Sources" tab for everyone on the tree? That might turn up stuff like draft notices, etc. Even if you got no green leaves. Hit the individual's name and the tab should open.

Happy hunting!

Yeah - all I have to do is confirm my order on the world wide search which I have not yet done until I get a couple bucks into my bank account! "Ain't" that always the case?!

The immigration stuff is really interesting - and that's easier to search now with records done like they are in the census searches. Just looking at the pictures of the ships attached to the records - you know, you just have to wonder what all these millions of people were leaving behind them for a better life in America. From what village, town or city did they come? What did they endure in their native country? What family members did they leave behind perhaps never to see again? They all came in legally, stayed, became US citizens and helped build a damn fine country. Too bad it's turned into such a shit hole after all that.

When my son was stationed in Italy he and a (US) cousin who was over there with the State Department got together and was introduced to some family members who still live in Italy. Chris and his wife got to see a lot of Italy and other European countries ... but they never made it to Sicily! Naples, yes; Sicily, no.
 
Well, I've made some progress. I found records for my great-grandmother and three of her children entering the US - they were 3 years, 2 years, 11 months. I cannot fathom her sailing from Hamburg, Germany to the US with three babies in steerage "accommodations" and that my great-grandfather was not with her! Now I know why I could never find records of my grandfather - he wasn't born in the US. It's just hard tracking down my great-grandfather.

I do know from US census records that they entered the US in 1888. I'm even taking stabs at searching for stuff that makes no sense in an effort to see if they might have online information.

Maddie - you might check the website for Castle Garden in NY. It was the entry point for immigrants from August 1, 1855 to April 1890. Castle Garden partially burned and the NY Barge Depot or some such place took immigrants for a year until Castle Garden could be repaired. Ellis Island took over immigration in 1892. Website is Castle Garden.
 
go to the graveyard...that is where you can gather a lot of info.....check soc sec death records etc....
google...the name and look for the variations in spelling...my name is odd...people change one letter and then...we have several branches of the family

I like to get drunk in graveyards.

In Sicily they put the pictures of the dead on graves, I lived there for over four years and me and my best friend (or I and my best freind you anal retentive grammar fuck head) used to go up to the spectacular graveyards of that land, drink Vino Corvo by the bottle load and tell each other funny stories about how each person died.

I was not disrespecting the dead; I was trying to bring them back to life.

Or at least laugh at the Big Black we will all swim in.

It's MY BEST FRIEND AND I!
 
My son is in the process of applying for dual citizenship and I was amazed at the effort it took him to track down basic documents: birth certificates, marriage, etc. even though he had the benefit of my grandparents being around long enough to know their history.

The websites devrted to such matters are a total waste of time and money. You have to get the information yourself and most importantly, you have to know what to ask and the county in which to ask it . My son found a marriage in Essex, NY and a divorce in Alabama.
 

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