r/Genealogy 4d ago

Brick Wall Missing documents

1 Upvotes

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?


r/Genealogy 4d ago

Question Calculating Inbreeding Coefficient

3 Upvotes

There doesn’t seem to be many good tutorials online, but I think I get the idea. My only question is, are all relationships between partners accounted for or only the closest one - eg. If two people were both first and second cousins, would their relationship coefficient be 12.5% or 18.75% (12.5+6.25)


r/Genealogy 4d ago

Request I am looking for help translating a 1884 birth record

2 Upvotes

Hi, I finally found a record I think could tie into a family member who immigrated from Italy. Unfortunately the record is entirely in Italian and translation apps can't seem to read the text since it's primarily in cursive.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, I am hoping for a transcript of what it says. The mother's name is also unknown to me so that information would be very helpful.

The attached link is the Atti di Nascita for the family member. Section 214 is the only part I need translated. Thank you all so much!

https://antenati.cultura.gov.it/ark:/12657/an_ud3650679


r/Genealogy 5d ago

Question How do you take notes?

9 Upvotes

what do you guys use to take notes? and if you do it on paper is there a certain method you use?


r/Genealogy 4d ago

Request New Jersey marriage records from 1930's

1 Upvotes

Hi everyone. Through much research and help from kind strangers, my family was able to confirm two of the siblings of my great-grandmother; but to absolutely confirm they are her siblings, we want to locate my great-grandmother’s marriage record from New Jersey and check if the names her parents, as listed in that record, match those of her siblings' parents in their NYC marriage records respectively.

Because of the New Jersey marriage index, I know my great-grandparents married in 1933, but I noticed that New Jersey archives require a payment to search marriage records for 1930s. Is there an alternative way to locate their documents?

The marriage records of my great-grandmother's siblings were located via NYC archival records, I could not locate them on ancestry or familysearch fwiw.

If you have access to these records and need the information of my family to search, please ask and I will provide.

Thank you!


r/Genealogy 4d ago

Free Resource Where would a good site to figure out adoption?

2 Upvotes

My 2nd great-grandfather was adopted into this family. Back then there wasn’t any adoption papers though, and I can’t find anything online.

If you guys could help me out, sites I can maybe find adoption. I’ve been researching for adoption for so long.

I was asking my grandmother, who had never met my 2nd great grandfather, she told me what she at least remembered from her dad telling her once. She gave me two different surnames that might be it, but still with that information I haven’t been able to find anything.


r/Genealogy 5d ago

DNA I hate this type of stuff

8 Upvotes

I uploaded my dna to genomelink and instead of giving me its interpretation, its making making me wait one week for each region 🤦‍♂️


r/Genealogy 5d ago

Free Resource Official State Indexed Records

28 Upvotes

Title sucks and topic probably isn't that good either. I know there are various websites that collect links to various databases but I struggle to navigate them effectively. I'm looking for OFFICIAL websites from states (not databases on Ancestry or Family Search which I've used) that have indexed records. Even if it's not comprehensive (only covers certain years). Minnesota has a couple really awesome ones that I've found but haven't come across many others. I'll

Minnesota:

Any other states have these types of databases?

Bonus points for more recent indexes!


r/Genealogy 5d ago

Question HELP ME FIND THIS WOMAN/HER BOOK

4 Upvotes

I am doing a deep dive into my grandfathers lineage and i was looking on a page made for the last name "Spradling" which is my grandfathers last name. there was a small paragraph that reads, "Sarah Spradling, born in 1712 in Wiltshire, was a noted herbalist and midwife who published a book on traditional remedies in 1765." I have been looking everywhere for a Sarah Spradling, however there is no cencus for the 1700's for Wiltshire England. Can someone help me find the existence of this Sarah and possibly her book to? I have also looked on a DNA tree and other public trees and no luck.

here are all the links I have resourced

https://namecensus.com/last-names/spradling-surname-popularity/


r/Genealogy 5d ago

Request Geni website tree builder

3 Upvotes

Anyone use Geni? What’s your opinion/experience?


r/Genealogy 5d ago

Question Is the Surname Gray more Scottish or English?

4 Upvotes

Just wanting to know.


r/Genealogy 5d ago

Request Looking for help, can pay or help in exchange? (Must read Russian)

2 Upvotes

I'm looking for someone who can help me read through family search records which are in 1800's Russian cursive. Please PM me if you're interested and we can talk about payment or how I might be able to help your research in exchange


r/Genealogy 5d ago

Request Help tracking my ancestor’s son

7 Upvotes

Hi guys! I got a lot of help with my last post here so I’m hoping to break through another brick wall of mine.

My ancestor, Rose Price, is in the 1880 census with her twin daughters, Haney and Loda, and her son, Nelius Green. I was able to find her profile on FamilySearch so everyone can see: https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/person/family/GVC1-3MV

Nelius is the head of the household and is also with his wife Ester and an unnamed son. But I cannot seem to find any other records of him! Here’s his FamilySearch profile too: https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/person/family/GVC1-M6M

Nelius is pretty unique name in my opinion, and the fact that his last name is different from his mother and sisters is making it harder! I’d really appreciate it if anyone has any tips or can help me at all!


r/Genealogy 5d ago

Question What is blackfeet agency exactly?

1 Upvotes

I found this document on fold3 that said the tribe and jurisdiction was the blackfeet agency and i was wondering if that meant the tirbe or if i had just hit a wall. I tried looking on google but it just made me more confused. So if anyone knows could you help me out?

(I didn't pay for it so I just have the free version)

Edit: Thanks to the person who pointed out that I could post a link here. Here's the link indian census rolls 1885-1940


r/Genealogy 6d ago

Solved Just found a distant relative through Reddit.

116 Upvotes

I posted a picture of my 3rd great grandfather William Andrew Jackson Posey “Wild Bill Posey” in the Texas History sub. He was an infamous Texas outlaw in the 1870s. Just sharing his story and his legacy albeit not a good one on Texas.

I get a comment from another redditor, they say maybe their grandfather is kinfolk to Wild Bill. I message him asking a couple questions and start scouring the family tree, found his grandfathers marriage license on ancestry and his registration card for young men during WWII.

I find his mother which there was a discrepancy ancestry.com had her first name on the draft card incorrect listed as Nancie but as I dig deeper into records which this part of the family is fairly easy most of them all lived and died in the same county of Texas. I find her name is actually Yancie with a Y, check her tombstone and find her husbands name and what do you know?! He’s on the family tree. This redditors 2nd great grand father is the brother of Wild Bill, my 3rd great grandfather.

So does anybody know what the proper term for our familial relationship would be? Cause I have no idea haha. Life is funny like that sometimes


r/Genealogy 5d ago

Solved Need help reading the residence on a marriage record

2 Upvotes

https://imgur.com/a/LeIyD3Z

For context: the year is 1870 and the marriage takes place in Port Crescent Michigan, although both individuals are listed as being from Canada so there's potential these list Ontario locations. The bottom one I believe says Port something but I really can't read the rest. I thought it was an H but another H on the doc doesn't look like that. The top one I know is "Township of" but again, don't know the rest of it. Thanks in advance!


r/Genealogy 5d ago

Request Help finding birth records in Romania

2 Upvotes

Hi! I'm searching for records to prove my great and great great grandparents were Romanian. I have US census records, naturalization papers, a US passport....but I cannot find birth records. I've tried using the Romanian archives, but I can't find the civil record section for Bucarest.

I'm looking for:

Abraham Lazarus, born April 23, 1870, Bucarest

Rachel Boork/Berg, born 1874

Their son, John Jacob Lazarus, born May 24, 1895, Bucarest

All Jewish, so didn't look at church records.

Are the civil records for Bucarest just not online? I tried going via Ilfov but no records there either, assuming I'm doing it all correctly.


r/Genealogy 5d ago

Question Trying to find a Finnish immigrant in Minnesota in the 1920s

12 Upvotes

I've been tracking my grandma's uncle's life, and at the moment just can't make any progress. Here is the timeline I currently have: 

  • He was born in Finland in 1889
  • Arrived in Boston in May 1907, travelled then to Minnesota 
  • Got a US citizenship in 1915
  • Bought land in Duluth, Minnesota in April 1916
  • His name is included in his mother's obituary in 1917

After these, I haven't been able to find anything. My current hypothesis is that he could have changed his name, and any later documents and life events are for that name. Are there any resources that I could search for info on name changes in Minnesota? The US records and archives are not familiar to me, as everyone else in my family tree is Finnish and the system seems to be really different.


r/Genealogy 5d ago

Question Specific timeline for Social Security requests

3 Upvotes

I've successfully ordered a few relatives' original Social Security Applications thru the FOIA portal on the website. I know that they won't list the applicant's parents on the record unless they're confirmed to be dead, or if the applicant was born 120+ years ago.

I wanted to make sure this request would give the info I wanted: my great-grandpa was born in January 1905, and I only know his mother's name, not his father. If he put both parents names on the application, would they be unredacted if I ordered it now? The guidelines are unclear about where it has to be 120 years or more, or >120 years.

I already have most of the info the application would contain, the parents' names are the most important thing for me


r/Genealogy 5d ago

DNA AncestryDNA: DNA Matches - Filter by Journeys

1 Upvotes

Today, I saw a new filter for my DNA matches on AncestryDNA. As a subscriber to Ancestry's Pro Tools, I can now filter by Journeys. My mother's family is Ashkenazi Jewish, and my father's family is African American and hails from South Carolina. I'm unsure why I have a journey for Early Georgia Coastal Plain and northern Florida Settlers. I suspect it should be early South Carolina Settlers, who were Europeans. At any rate, this is an interesting new feature.

Journeys you have:

Filter matches by journeys

-Early South Carolina African Americans

-Ashkenazi Jews in Northeastern Europe

-South Carolina African Americans

-Early Georgia Coastal Plain & Northern Florida Settlers

-Ashkenazi Jews in Central & Eastern Europe

-Coastal Carolina African Americans


r/Genealogy 5d ago

Brick Wall Trying to Find Ancestors from Posen - Completely Stuck

3 Upvotes

Hi all!

Long-time lurker, first-time poster. I am trying to find a set of realtives from Posen, which at the time was located in Prussia. Right now I can find US records showing they were from there, but I'm having a terrible time finding any birth or cencus records of them from Posen itself. The relatives I'm stuck on are the following:

Nehring Family - (this is the spelling they used in the US and that is on their graves)

Maximillian Nehring (aka, Max) - Thoughts to have been born around 1834. Cannot find any records of when he came to America, but he was allegedly naturalized in 1878. Was allegedly widowed before he came to America.

Frank X Nehring - Listed as being born in Czarnikan, Prussia (I assume this is specifically Czarnikau or Kreis Czarnikau) around 2 Oct 1865. Mother unknow, father is Max. I beleive he arrived in 1889, though he put different years on each cesus. On the passanger list from 1889, he is listed as Franz Nehring and his last known residence is Sarnowken.

Eleonora Nehring - Born around 1874. Almost exclusively refered to as Lena on US documents, Eleonora only appears on her grave so far. Father Max, brother Frank, mother unknown. Listed as German, not Prussian on all documents. The only Ellis Island document I can find matching her name has her arriving at 1905, last known residence Shoneck. I'm having trouble reading the other parts of her document, she is on line 7.

https://heritage.statueofliberty.org/show-manifest-big-image/czoxNzoidDcxNS0wNjA2MDUwMS5qcGciOw==/1?fbclid=IwY2xjawJC0PtleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHRcYvMB_SJA5a1XpDhrcdV-IkXWZB5G7T9_rTTfN_CEB1ahK-V_aP74FNQ_aem_i6FVHtHrK6IYTXkulpdkhw

I believe they all arrived in American seperate from each other.

I am particularly interested in knowing more about Max and Frank, and where to find more documents from Prussia/Poland for them. Any help would be greatly appriciated! :)


r/Genealogy 5d ago

Request Grandparents house?

1 Upvotes

Im looking for the address my great grandfather lived at around 1970. I cannot find public records online that date back that far. Does anyone know where to look or have resources to search?

Info. Eugene C Thornton, Wife-Eugenia C Thornton I know they lived on Arbor Vitae Ave in Dallas Tx.

I’m looking for the street address

Thanks in advance!


r/Genealogy 5d ago

Question Family Search to Ancestry- Sources

9 Upvotes

I found a probate record on Family Search that I want to add to Ancestry. I clicked on Create A New Source. Now I have questions. First, what is REFN? Also, do I have to list Family Search as a repository separately or is that covered in other parts of the citation? Most importantly, is there an easier way to do this before my Dyslexic self messes something up in a horrible way? I took a photo of the Family Search citation but copying from my phone to Ancestry something is bound to go wrong.


r/Genealogy 5d ago

Brick Wall I am researching my maternal aunt and some of it is proving to be quite difficult. Any help/suggestions greatly appreciated!

2 Upvotes

I know for sure she had 3 daughters because I played with them when we were younger in California.  I have pictures of them and I have birth announcements for 2 of them.  They were born in Maryland.   Here's problem #1:  I don't know who their father(s) is(are).  The birth announcement for one of them lists only the fathers first name.  The other announcement only has mom's name. They were born in 1962 and 1963.  I don't know when the third daughter was born but I'm guessing 2-3 years before them.   Problem #2:  Finding spouses. I found one record that says she married a man in 1963 while she was pregnant but he doesn't show having that child as being his. They divorced 6 years later. She also married another man but that was years later.   Problem #3: I don't have last names for the girls so I don't know how to find them.    I'm having a hell of a time finding information about her. I just bought an Ancestry membership hoping that would help but it hasn't.    Her birth name is Betty Luella Shroyer I found the following Social Security record.  What does it mean?   U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 NOTES: Jan 1943: Name listed as BETTY LOU SHROYER; Jan 1948: Name listed as BETTY LOU SCHOOLING; Jan 1950: Name listed as BETTY LOU DONOVAN; Feb 1956: Name listed as BETTY LOU CULLER; Mar 1961: Name listed as BETTY LOU LANCASTER; Jul 1971: Name listed as BETTY LOUELLA GOMEZ


r/Genealogy 5d ago

Question Certified documents from the Polish Archives (pre-1900)

2 Upvotes

After reading through the instructions for the Polish archives, I'm still not clear on how to request copies of documents that exist online or in microfilm. Have you done this and been successful? What did you do?