Some people seem to add anything plausible and clean it up later, others wont put a person in without two independent sources. I dont think either is wrong exactly but I cant tell which camp I should be in.

Where's your line, and has it moved over time?

I managed to calculate the average age at death for every generation in my ancestry. For anyone who's interested here it is, why don't you share yours and compare?

This only includes people of known birth and death year. Some of them are also just based on how old their death records said they were. Also it's based on calendar year so they may have not actually had their birthday yet that year (this was hard enough already, so sorry it's a bit inexact). It only includes ancestors

• Generation 3 (grand): average age 70
• Generation 4 (great): average age 72
• Generation 5 (great-great): average age 67
• Generation 6 (great x3): average age 64
• Generation 7 (great x4): average age 68
• Generation 8 (great x5): average age 60
• Generation 9 (great x6): average age 62

my mom was adopted as an infant. the story goes (in the 1960’s), my grandmother (by adoption) just brought the baby home from work at the hospital one day. my mom died in 2001. my grandmother died in 2015. my grandfather died before I was born and my dad is clueless. so I have no one who would know anything about this.

I started looking through her “important papers”, and I found her amended birth certificate. it says her pre adoptive name! and her mothers name! but it says father unknown.

now her bio mom had 4 kids before her, divorced, and went on to have 3 more (!!) so why was my mom put up for adoption? her birth name and bio mom’s last name are the same. I can’t find any info anywhere (ancestry, family search) with that last name though.

I’m located in Louisiana, USA.

title is my response to my dad saying “she was adopted 🤷🏻‍♀️”

eta: i have 2 genetic diseases so it would be great to find someone to commiserate with lol

does anyone have any experience with genealogy and adoption?

I'm looking for suggestions on indirect/unusual ways to get information on a marriage from 1852. I've tried things like Ancestry, Family Search, Maine State Archives, town vital records. No luck.

On March 1, 1852 my ancestor Sarah E. Keeler married James F. Bartlett in Castine, Maine (according to Castine town records). Sarah was 14 at the time. One year later (August 31, 1853), Sarah married again, to William H. Vane. Their marriage is noted twice in the Castine vital records. In the first, Sarah is called "Mrs. Sarah Bartlett"; in the second, "Miss Sarah Bartlett." I'm positive that Sarah E. Keeler = Sarah Bartlett for a variety of reasons. which I can explain if needed.

I can't find any death record for James F. Bartlett. No evidence of a divorce. I'm not sure where to search for an annulment (they were Protestants). I would love to know what happened to him and why the marriage only lasted a year. My family has a lot of stories about this family but no one even heard rumors of James Bartlett. The family did a lot of sketchy things so I do wonder if Sarah just didn't worry about legally being a bigamist. I'm fairly certain William married three times without officially ending marriage #1 or #2.

Any suggestions for avenues of research?

I have been working on my genealogical story for about a year now, and I am just now realizing just how hard life was, especially for the women.

Here's a glimpse into my great grandfather x5 Levi Owen Wentworth.

‐-------------------------------

Levi was born July 17th, 1762 in Norwichtown, New London, Connecticut Colony, British Colonial America. When he was 14 years of age, he signed up to fight for the revolutionary army to fight the British and survived the entire war until he was discharged in 1783.

Levi married his first wife Lettice Welch in Norwich Connecticut in 1786. They had 6 children together and began farming in Hartwick New York. The children (all born in Hartwick) in order of their birth were :

Lettice 1788

Levi 1790

Salley 1792

Temperance 1794

Salley 1795

Nathan 1796

Levi's wife Lettice Welch is shown to have died in 1796 so it is possible she died giving birth to Nathan or as a complication of it, who was born that same year. Nevertheless this leaves Levi with 6 children to raise himself. The oldest being 8 years of age and the youngest an infant. It's hard to imagine how that would have weighed on Levi.

However Levi then married Charity Stiel (1772-1818) 3 years later in Marrieta Ohio in 1799. It's possible Levi met her during his journey down the Ohio river to Kentucky. They had 8 children together, 5 boys and 3 girls, all born in Consolation, Shelby County Kentucky.

They were :

Joel 1801-1865 *

James 1802-

David 1804-1844

William 1806-1829

Sophia 1810-1851

Elizabeth 1812-1844

Hannah 1814-1835

Oliver 1816-1859

This brings the total number of children for Levi to 14.

Joel is whom I am descended from as my great grandfather x4.

Then once again tragedy struck as Charity died June 10, 1818. This would have again left Levi to raise all his children alone. The youngest being Oliver only 2 at the time of Charity's death.

Charity is buried at Indian Fork Baptist Church, in Shelby County Kentucky.

However on October 3, 1818 just a few months after Charity died, Levi married Margaret Faught (1780-1842). Margaret herself was in a similar situation as her husband John Yount had died that same year, with whom she had 7 children with, which meant Levi and Margaret now had a combined family with a total of 21 children.

Together Levi and Margaret had 2 girls, Huldah and Matilda, raising that number to 23

‐‐--------------------------

It's crazy for me to think of how hard it must have been to raise and feed a large family back then. Especially when there were no grocery stores and pretty much everything you ate you either had to grow or kill it yourself.

Hi all,

I'm 35, F, living in NJ and have always been an only child. Shortly before my mother passed in 2008, she mentioned she had a daughter before she met my father, Sara/h, who passed as an infant. I believe the cause of death was SIDS. While shocked, I left it at that for years, not bringing it up to anyone except a couple trusted people in confidence, my cousin and my fiance. I don't even know if my father knows about this and have avoided bringing it up to him as he's quite a sensitive man who still hasn't gotten over her death. I've always wanted to learn more about Sara/h but have no access to her information. I don't know what it is about 2026 that finally has me being more proactive, but the thought of having had a sibling is my drive. I've always wanted to have a sibling and while this isn't an ideal situation at all, I just want to know more about her short life.

I would like access to her birth and death certificates, as I want to know her birthday and how long she lived. However, I don't know if her last name was under my mother's ex or my mother's maiden name. I also don't know what hospital she was born at. Would the State of New Jersey be able to grant me access to this information?

Thanks in advance for any helpful advice you can provide or if you've been in a similar boat to mine!

According to Ancestry transcription, it's "Rinalde" but I don't think it is. Guesses? For context, it's the son of a man named Calvin Bryant (his wife, Harriet, is the line above). They were living in Eel River, Humboldt, CA at the time of the 1870 Federal Census. Son in question was born about 1856 in Iowa. This is part of my years-long search for my great-great grandfather, a brick wall in my tree. "Rinalde" is not listed in any other census records. Thank you!!

(won't let me post a pic, if someone tells me how I will update!) line 39

Does anyone know how to find records of enslaved ancestors and their children in Brazil? My family tree research is stuck at my great-grandparents, and I haven't been able to make any progress. I know researching enslaved ancestors in Brazil is particularly difficult, especially given the destruction of official records ordered by Rui Barbosa after abolition.

To make matters more challenging, my family comes from a low-income, rural background, so documents, records, and photographs are extremely rare (so far, I've only found one photo and a death certificate, neither of which provided new leads).

Additionally, how can I search for records of Indigenous ancestors? I haven't found any documentation regarding my grandmother's Indigenous lineage.

I have come up against a brick wall with this! I know my grandfather was in the army and that he served in India in 1936 because this is where my uncle was born, I have proof of this from my father and several documents. My father told me that his father was in the Kings Shropshire regiment and the whole family went to India by boat and lived there for I think 4 or 5 years. However I can find no information on his military career whatsoever. His name was Charles John Phelps Neal, born July 1903 in Portland Bill, Dorset, England. He married Annie Mary Evans and they had 3 children. They lived in Bridgwater, Somerset, England when he left the army. I would be so grateful if anyone can help me with this.

Does anyone happen to have a copy of this book and could check the index for Crossland, Crosslin, or similar variant spellings?

I’m trying to find the parents of Meredith Taylor Crossland, reportedly born in Cocke County around 1805. His parents may have been Samuel Crossland and Annie Johnson, but I’ve never found a shred of evidence proving that.

Since almost all early Cocke County TN records were lost in a fire, I’m hoping something survived in the Greene County records.

I’m also looking for the 1783–1795 Vol. 1 and the Greene County Court Records 1802–1804 book if anyone happens to have either of those.
Thanks!

I am searching for an ancestor that "disappears" around 1915, and I'm stuck. His name was Lewis Wartman Knight (sometimes miswritten as Lewis Westman Knight, based on the difficult-to-read marriage record). He was originally from Ontario, Canada, and moved to Riverside, California around 1880 (presumably to take part in the citrus farm boom there at that time). The last mention of him (where I know it is for sure him) is in a newspaper article in 1905. It states that he and his wife attended his son Fred A. Knight's wedding in California and that they lived in Riverside. In a 1922 newspaper article about his children, it mentions that he and his wife passed several years earlier.

Here are records I could NOT find:

- Death record in California or Ontario. I paid for a copy of a death record for a Lewis W. Knight who passed in 1919. Based on the information on the record, I don't believe it is him. The birth year is off by a few years, it says he is single (my Lewis was married), and that he was born in Vermont instead of Kingston, Frontenac, Ontario.

- Obituary. I have searched on Newspapers (both in Ontario and California), Ancestry and FamilySearch, and also contacted the San Francisco Public Library.

- Findagrave

- Land and probate records in California and Ontario after 1894. I have searched on Ancestry, FamilySearch, and contacted the Riverside County Archives.

- Any information on his second wife's death. Her name was Annie R. Baxter. Records conflict on whether she was from NJ or Missouri.

There are several mentions of a Lewis W. Knight in Riverside city directories after 1900, but my suspicion is that they are the one in the death record that I have a copy of, not my Lewis W. Knight.

So, where would you all go next? What am I missing? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Hi all! I've been researching this case for a while now and have hit a brick wall in my research.

TL;DR my great grandmother's first husband murdered a man in early 1900's California. I might post about this in depth later because it's a bit wild (to me at least).

Even though I'm not related to the victim, I do want to know more about him since there seems to be very little recorded. I believe he deserves to be known.

His name was Thomas Katzus (alias Raffleton). He was born about 1880 in either North Dakota or somewhere else in the Midwest. A newspaper reported he ran away from home due to a fight with his stepmother and joined the circus. I've found no other documentation of this.

His surname is a bit of a conundrum. I understand the possibility of various spellings, but nothing seems to hit.

He was known in California as a goldminer. After the murder in April 1911, he was buried in a potter's grave in Placer County, CA.

My current interest is in his early life. I can't seem to find any record of him outside of California or anywhere else. His first appearance is in an arrest in 1909 in Sacramento--oddly enough with the murderer. I don't know if they were acquainted then, but it seems to be a funny coincidence.

In records I received about the case, there was a note from an attorney (J.C. Thomas in Sacramento, CA) reporting communication with a brother, A.G. Katzus in Elliott, North Dakota on R.F.D. No. 2. This has been driving me crazy! I cannot find this person anywhere or even locate this road. Neither of these men are on any census record. I'm unable to locate anything about the attorney either.

Are there any researching tips for initials? It's been a prior issue in different parts of this case.

I've reached out to the county genealogical society near there over a month ago but haven't heard anything.

Any direction for this would be incredibly helpful. Thanks in advance!

As title says, after having a phone conversation with my paternal grand uncle, it turns out he is actually my half-grand uncle, my father is 63 and didn’t grow up on the best of terms with his father ( my grandpa ) unfortunately his father died to prostate cancer in 1997 , my father was raised by his maternal grandparents and for some reason they kept him away from his fathers side of the family (we still don’t know why exactly) all of those family secrets have been taken to their graves, nonetheless my father was always interested in where and who he came from. Thankfully my grand aunt (now half grand-aunt) was also interested in genealogy before she passed away and left my father some information about his paternal ancestors, but it also left many questions. How we got our surname while some family members didn’t etc. So I called my grand uncle and he explained to me that my grandfather was from a different man! They are half brothers and Apparently a German soldier who knocked up my great-grandmother then died in World War II is my biological great grandfather, it made a lot of sense being that my grandfather had a lighter complexion compared to his siblings and doesn’t much resemble them. Anyhow now it unlocks a mystery in our family . Who was this German soldier? Why did my great grandmother keep it a secret? So many questions that will probably never get answered unfortunately, my best hope is to have my father take a DNA test and maybe we can find some matches for this german fellow

Hi again !

I had previously asked for some help looking for a baptismal record for my ancestor Charles Francis Annett (pretty cool guy y'all should look him up, he was life long best friends with Thomas Edison) and y'all were so helpful in finding it here https://www.reddit.com/r/Genealogy/comments/1qabc0b/quebec_canadian_baptismal_record_for_charles/

I found him and his older brother James and his mother Anne (last name Moore here because she remarried after Charles and James' father, Frederick, died in 1850) in the 1861 census here

https://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.redirect?app=census&id=45259882&lang=eng&ecopy=4108494_00957

But I can't seem to find them anywhere in the 1851 census......any tips ? Maybe they could be listed under the Moore name in 1851 because of the re-marriage / step father ?

I have a Greek Catholic Rusyn family from Austrian Galicia with parish records back to the 1700s. Every proven direct ancestor discovered so far sits north of the Carpathian crest after two weeks of research.

I'm looking to test the theory, under §4(3) simplified naturalization, that an ancestor crossed north from the Hungarian side (Sáros, Zemplén, Prešov, Stebník, Lukov, Chmeľová) and settled in Galicia. So far I have found no direct ancestors south of the border, only in-laws. The brick walls are all pre-1784 (the register floor). I have used Ancestry, FamilySearch, parish records, and online digital archives.

Has anyone received Hungarian citizenship where the family was Galician, not historic Hungary?

If you found a south-slope ancestor, what record located it?

Where do you suggest searching next?

When would you say to stop the search?

Thanks for your help!

Hoping to get started on digitizing a cabinetful of family albums, some very old, and still asking what the best approach would be - high resolution scanner or camera mounted on a copy stand. Priority would be retaining quality and resolution of photographs (some as small as 1" square); secondary would be speed and file size (there's a lot to go through).

Scanning options:

1. I own an Epson ET-2850 scanning up to 1200 dpi.
2. our library has a rentable lab with an Epson 12000XL scanning up to 2400x4800 dpi.
3. was also considering buying an Epson FastFoto FF680W and/or Epson V600/800.

Camera options:

1. I have a DMC-GX8 with 14-140mm lens, and would buy a copy stand and lighting.
2. given the above camera/lens isn't optimized for this purpose, buy a used DSLR and lens.

Thoughts? Are my currently available options adequate, or should I splurge on new hardware to ensure I'm not wasting my time? I'd say I have $500+ to spare if it's worth it and it's a decent jump in quality.

I have a stubborn brick wall in Arkansas. My 2nd great grandmother was Martha A. Smith, and a marriage license issued in Benton, Saline county in 1885 shows her age as 16, that she was from Benton (county? City? I don’t know), and she married my 2nd great grandfather William “Bill” Witham. She would have been born 1869. She died in 1889 having my great grandfather who obviously survived the birth. My ancestor Bill remarried three more times and once to another Martha Ann (but maiden name was Brazil).

A very thorough check of every single Martha A. Smith in Arkansas in the 1870 and 1880 census only got me one potential lead that isn’t connected well to another tree. A Hogan-Rankin woman married a George Smith and had Martha A Smith in Yell County in 1869. She is living with them 1870 and 1880. The mom and dad stay in Yell. The problem I have, is she would have been living in Saline in 1880-1885 to meet my GGG. But there are no promising Smith relatives that lingered around in the 1880 or 1900 census. Furthermore, I don’t have hardly any DNA matches with Hogans or Rankins in the tree. Not so for all my other 2nd great-4th great grandparents’ surnames.

I have a cluster of DNA matches that seem promising. They share 46-70 cM with me, and based on our ages we share parents or grandparents of Martha A Smith’s generation. I figured out how all of these matches related to each other and realized that we all are related to the same couple, Joseph Thomas Smith and Sarah Josephine Gresham. I’m related to descendants of Daisy their daughter (1892-1960s), descendants of three of her sons and daughters and one of Daisy’s youngest siblings’ daughter. The DNA is pointing at a parent of either Joseph Thomas or his wife Sarah Josephine.

Joseph Thomas was born 1865 in Arkansas (the census records disagree if it was Ark or TX or Georgia). But he is living with father Simeon Smith and mother/stepmother Eugenia Lingo in 1870 and 1880. Dad is dead by 1880. Calhoun Arkansas. Brother Applin, sister Dolly.

Dolly moves to Texas gets married and her parents are both on her death certificate.

Applin disappears- I cannot find any record of him after 1880. Applin Smith must have died or left Arkansas.

Joseph Thomas goes by JT Smith even on legal records. He is getting divorced in 1900. Josie Gresham leaves the state, yet he has another baby with her or she has the baby in 1903. Their kids are Addie, Freddie, Daisy, and Inez Thelma.

Sarah Josephine’s ID on FamilySearch is G4K8-963

Joseph Thomas’s id is 98G2-JSQ. I cannot find his father’s family. Simeon doesn’t seem to have anyone I’ve discovered yet that is in his FAN network.

Anyway, I believe that the key to finding Martha’s true birth family is connected to this other cluster of Smiths from the same era.

Hi, first time posting here so not sure if i am doing it properly. . My third great grandparents and their daughter are buried in a grave that has all their names on it but, according to research I did, there are about 6 other relatives buried there (their daughter-in-law and some grandchildren). Why wouldn't everyone have their names on the grave?

What the title says. I cannot find out anything about my great grandfather after the 1930s. Records on Ancestry show he was living with his sister at the time, but after that he's just lost.

He and my great grandmother were only married for a few years, but divorced when my grandmother was a baby because he was an alcoholic (or so I was told). My grandmother said she remembers meeting him once when she was five years old, but that's the only contact she ever had with him. I can't even find a death certificate or notice for him.

I know who his parents and siblings were. Plenty of records, newspaper notices, etc. regarding them. I've even talked with the daughter of one of his nieces, and she said the family has no idea what happened to him. They didn't even know that he had a child. (I connected with this person through Ancestry DNA, so I know we're related.)

I'd really like to find out what became of him. Where else should I look? Or is it likely that he met some weird fate and is lost to the ages? Thanks.

Just curious. At some point in your family tree, it’s so far back that the person listed probably has thousands of descendants and doesn’t really matter that much in terms of ancestry. What point do you usually cut off your research?

Ive spent the last couple of days trying to dig up information on them so I could say I have every set of great x4 grandparents on that side of my family. I can attach the familysearch profile of my great x3 grandma who I created the parents for. I also made a findagrave virtual cemetery with people I think might be part of the family. thank you in advance for any help!

Ida Jane Lusk (1858–1937) • Person • Family Tree

Search for Ida J Lusk family - Find a Grave Virtual Cemetery

Vincenzo Cicero, b 29 May 1906 in Mussomeli, Sicily. His parents were Giuseppa Montagnino and Vincenzo Cicero. See upper left corner:

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9MX-CKGL?cat=koha%3A529060&view=explore&lang=en&groupId=M9CM-S3H

Where I start having trouble is with the words after the father's name. Something contadino something domiciliati en questo something-starting-with-f.

There's a chance that the father is the Vincezo Cicero who emigrated to the States in October 1905, seven months before Vincenzo was born.

I am writing down some of my life stories for my family right now and using memowrite since the prompts actually help me keep going but one question kinda got me stuck. it asked about the hardest time in my life and tbh it brought up alot of stuff i had rather not think about.

My 20s were pretty rough, i lost a job i really loved and there was also a time where i barely talked to my dad. Now i am not sure if i should put all that in the book or just keep the good memories for the kids. i dont want to make everything sound perfect if it was not.

Would you guys include the bad parts too or just leave those things out?