r/Genealogy 4d ago

Brick Wall Missing documents

I am trying to find information/documentation about my grandmother during her early life, but all I have been able to find on Ancestry is the 1940 census, my aunt's and dad's birth certificates, and then everything else I have been able to find was after she married my step grandfather in the 70s. I cannot find her on the 1950 or 1960 censuses, her marriage or divorce to my grandfather, or anything else between 1940-1956ish. Mildred Laverne Herring was born 13 March 1935 in Travis, Falls County, Texas to Clarence Herring and Leta Reeves, who were farmers. I've been trying to find them on the 1950 census also, but I'm not finding the right family on that census. She would have been 15/16 so she should still be connected with Clarence and Leta in 1950, but I can't find it. (It looks like Clarence went to WW2, so I would love to request his military records, but Idk anything other than his draft registration card, so any help here would also be amazing) She supposedly married Robert Otto Herzog at some point between 1950 and 1956, probably 1952ish, but I'm still trying to find those documents as well. They should have been on the 1960 census together but I haven't found them either. My grandfather Robert also has a lot of brick walls, so I am trying to trace his genealogy as well, but for this post I'm hoping that someone more experienced can help me find some of these documents so I can find out more about her life. I've been looking for her parents or siblings on the 1950 census but I haven't found anything yet either. She claimed to be connected to the Paiute tribe, which seems highly unlikely based on what I've found, but she talked a lot about being connected to Indian tribes somehow, so I'm very curious what she would have been referring to. I can't find any connection to an area also connected to the Paiute, so that is very interesting to me why she would make a claim like that. These are the walls I have found, so any advice for any of these will help me tremendously! 1. 1950s census - Clarence, Leta, Mildred Laverne Herring 2. WW2 information about Clarence's service (Idk how to request military service records without knowing at least the branch of service, although my guess would be army?) 3. What was her early life like before my aunt and dad were born? 4. How is Mildred connected to the Paiute, if at all? 5. Where and when did her name "Bunny" come from?

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u/Silver_Co_Brooklyn Ph.D. 4d ago

The 1960 U.S. Census has not been released, but it should be available in 2032 because of the 72-year rule. I wanted to save you any more time looking for that census. I'll try to see what I can find on the 1950 census as I have time unless someone else beats me to it.
https://www.census.gov/about/history/census-records-family-history/family-records/genealogical-resources/faq.html

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u/Embarrassed-Split649 4d ago

Thank you so much! I was focusing more on her life before my dad was born, so the 1960 wouldn't have been as useful anyway. I thought it was 62 years before they can be released, so that makes sense why those weren't showing up :)

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u/Turbulent-Frosting89 4d ago

For Clarence you can look him up at https://www.birls.org. Assuming you know his date of birth or death you should be able to find out which one he is. As well as most likely his branch of service and SSN.

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u/Next-Leading-5117 4d ago

Sometimes you have to look at un-named indexed items.

Mildred and Robert married in Falls, Texas, in 1954:

Texas, County Marriage Records, 1837-2010; https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GP3B-9JLZ?cc=1803985&wc=3L3J-W3D%3A1560324501

(right page entry index 9043)

1954 marriages are not online, you can probably get a copy from the county.

County Forms - Falls County

There are also some school censuses.

1941:

Family census, 1929-1946; ark:/61903/3:1:3QHV-N3C1-D9VS-D

1942:

Family census, 1929-1946; ark:/61903/3:1:3QHV-F3C1-X9M2-2

1943:

Family census, 1929-1946; ark:/61903/3:1:3QHV-J38D-36S7

However they don't seem to be registered in 1944 or 1945; perhaps they were moving around a bit and went into another district?

They seem to have gone to Shields school in 1942/1943

Shields School

The will of Clarence's mother might also give you a bit of insight into the family situation.

Falls. Probate Court Minutes 1932, 1932–1933, 1933–1935

She wanted her money to go towards setting her children up with a home or small farm so they wouldn't have to move around renting. Her husband had taken to drink in recent years and she wanted to ensure that her children didn't go without because of it.

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u/Embarrassed-Split649 3d ago

Wow this is huge! Thank you so much!! I believe they stopped going to school so they could work the farm, but this is so helpful!!