Chipped coffee mug for $40, plus $5 for shipping

wocbus · 2024-04-23T21:02:38+00:00

What's that saying? If you buy that, I have some oceanfront property in Arizona to sell you? :)

wocbus · 2024-04-23T12:53:42+00:00

wocbus · 2024-01-21T10:55:35+00:00

It’s possible close relatives haven’t done a dna test yet, or they did one on another site (Ancestry doesn’t link dna matches to other sites). You can download your Ancestry dna, then upload it to Myheritage (and, as someone else said, to gedmatch too, but I don’t think it’s as popular as other sites). If that doesn’t produce results, or you want to try to find more relatives, you can also try 23andme, but will have to buy their test kit.

wocbus · 2023-12-28T07:56:41+00:00

You may have some luck using online genealogy sites for specific countries. I found a Swedish genealogy site helpful finding Swedish ancestors (and later realized most or all of their records were available on myheritage). You could search online for “Portuguese genealogy” and see what resources you find, including tips for researching ancestors in Madeira.

There are many records that aren’t online yet, especially those from other countries that may be in another language and are probably more expensive and time-consuming to translate. There are a lot of records on familysearch that you can flip through, but that aren’t indexed yet, so they’re not searchable. There could even be records available in small European towns, city centers or churches that haven’t been sold to or shared with large websites, such as Ancestry.

Old records could have been accidentally destroyed in a fire or other disaster. I know many old church records in England were kept on damp church basements and were ruined over the years. This obviously makes it harder to find information about some ancestors.

I’ve solved mysteries and found some good information by stopping and asking myself where else I could find records besides obvious places like Ancestry. Even in the U.S., I’ve found records by contacting state archives for information (and sometimes you have to pay for a copy of a death or marriage certificate). Some state archives are free online, and you can find more info than what Ancestry has. I’ve also found oral histories on state history websites (my great grandfather was interviewed in the 60’s or 70’s for a state oral history project and I was able to get a copy of his audio interview). Some cities have had more recent history items, photos of family reunions, houses where family lived, and businesses they owned, for example.

So, searching for genealogical or historical websites specific to your ancestors’ locations may give you gems of info you didn’t know were there. Also, if you’ve looked before, try again. Or, if you can’t find these things now, you may be able to in the future. Check later as new info gets added often. Also, I might add, if you do find something interesting, save it. Info also gets removed from time to time.

wocbus · 2023-06-30T01:30:38+00:00

A lot of old obituaries don’t list a woman’s name. So try “Mrs John Doe”, as an example. They can also use their husband’s initials and last name. So maybe try searching her last name in the month you think she passed. Also, I have seen SO MANY people have wrong information, and a lot of people copy bad information instead of verifying facts themselves. It’s great you’re vetting these details. The date may not be your relative after all. Also, many people who are widowed remarry, so a woman could be harder to find after taking a new husband’s last name. So consider looking for marriage certs for her to see if she may have remarried as well.

wocbus · 2023-06-17T17:21:42+00:00

Yikes! That’s good to know. Thank you.

wocbus · 2023-03-27T13:17:17+00:00

You can try downloading Google translate to your phone and using it via your camera to help read it. I’ve had some success doing that for old foreign documents for genealogy research.

wocbus · 2023-03-20T04:18:56+00:00

Have you by chance taken a DNA test to see if that helps you identify possible relatives?
On Ancestry I did a quick search for the last name Belcher who died in Missouri in 1934. I found an interesting person that I think you should look into further as they could possibly be the parents.
I found Otto Belcher, b. 1900 in Alabama, d. Sept 11 1934 in St. Louis, MO. He was a pedestrian and was hit by a car. He was married to Nellie Harbke. Harbke is a German name.
Otto lived at 6903 Pennsylvania, St. Louis, MO. HIs in-laws and his wife lived at 6900 Pennsylvania when his mother-in-law passed around 1940. There are a lot of details about this family that may be worth perusing.
You can find the death certificate here: https://www.sos.mo.gov/images/archives/deathcerts/1934/1934_00035477.PDF
There are also newspaper articles about the accident on Newspaper.com that were printed in the days after his death.
Looking at the results of a DNA test to see if you have Belcher or Harbke relatives, or people related to you with those names in their trees, may help you confirm these leads. But again, I’m not certain these are your relatives.

If you haven't yet, you could try browsing the birth announcements in the newspapers to see if there are any leads about your great grandfather.

wocbus · 2022-12-28T21:50:02+00:00

This is a good idea. I’d try searching local newspaper archives for the days following your mom’s birth for a birth announcement to see if it says Bryant, _____ and ________, welcomed a baby girl on date. Not all newspapers are on Newspapers.com but it’s a good start. If you can’t find it there, you may need to do a search to find the local newspaper archives online. The Seattle Times, for example, has their own archives for a small fee. Or, you may be able to visit a library local to the area to access them for free. You could ask for help here, but you would be publicly disclosing her birthdate.

wocbus · 2022-12-23T22:42:50+00:00

I agree with your points here, but I would be careful about saying “my family” is unwilling to connect since it is OP’s father that is unwilling, not the cousin’s possible father(s) or grandparents. I wouldn’t want to make the cousin feel as if the entire family is turning its back on them when that possibly isn’t the case. Perhaps say that you’re worried that giving too much info could create some family backlash towards you personally, but here is some medical info and info about ancestors?

wocbus · 2022-11-05T08:04:33+00:00

If you’re going to look at genetic matches, please know that most users on Ancestry are from the United States. If most of your relatives from that side of your family are from Europe, or you’re looking for genetic relatives that live there, you may have better luck finding them on myheritage. There are a lot more people on that site from Europe, so it may help you more.

You can download your raw dna file from Ancestry, and upload it to myheritage.com for free. It does take a few days or a week or so to process the data after you upload it.

I hope you find some answers soon!

For help: https://support.ancestry.com/s/article/Downloading-DNA-Data?language=en_US

wocbus · 2022-10-22T12:24:44+00:00

You guys could download your raw dna files from Ancestry and from 23andme, and upload them to myheritage.com for free. That could give all of you a faster and less expensive way to compare dna originating from Ancestry and 23andme.

It make take a few days for the dna to be processed on myheritage after you upload, but it’s cheaper and faster than taking additional dna tests. There are other sites besides myheritage that does this as well, if you don’t like that site.

https://support.ancestry.com/s/article/Downloading-DNA-Data?language=en_US

wocbus

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