Who would it be? Only departed people you had no chance to meet/didn't have the chance to meet or you met them at a very young age

Hello. I’m from Odesa, Ukraine, and I’m trying to find out what really happened to my older biological sister.

Until shortly before my mother died, I didn’t even know that I had a sister.

My mother, Tetiana Bobkova (born January 21, 1973), was only 16 years old when she gave birth in Odesa Maternity Hospital No. 2 in 1989.

For years, all I had were family memories. My mother said she had given birth to a girl and that, under pressure from the family, documents were signed giving up the child. She also remembered seeing the baby alive.

Recently I finally managed to locate the original hospital archive.

The legal successor of Maternity Hospital No. 2 officially checked the surviving newborn register (Form No. 102/o) and confirmed:

March 11, 1989, 17:30 - my mother gave birth to a LIVE, FULL-TERM baby girl.

Then comes the part that changed everything:

March 17, 1989 - the same register says the child died.

So according to the hospital book, my sister lived for six days.

I asked the hospital for everything that might explain this: her medical chart, diagnosis, cause of death, medical death certificate, and the document that was the basis for entering “died” into the register. I am still waiting for their answer.

At the same time, I started checking the civil registry.

People helping me at the Ukrainian civil registry have so far been unable to find either a birth record OR a death record for this child.

Nothing.

No registered birth on March 11.
No registered death on March 17.

Another very experienced civil-registry specialist is now checking everything again independently, so I am not treating this as final yet.

And then something even stranger happened.

After I posted about my search on Facebook, a woman contacted me with her own story.

According to what her adoptive mother told her, she was actually born on February 9, 1989, also in Odesa. Her adoptive mother had allegedly pretended to be pregnant and arranged to receive a newborn through people with connections in a maternity hospital.

But here is the strange part:

the woman says she was never legally adopted.

In her official documents, the woman who raised her is recorded as the woman who gave birth to her.

Her official birthday is February 16, 1989 — exactly one week after the date her adoptive mother told her she was really born.

So according to her family story:

real birth: February 9 → official “birth” to another woman: February 16

My sister’s surviving hospital record says:

real birth: March 11 → “death”: March 17

I know this similarity does not prove that the same thing happened to my sister. It may be coincidence, and the woman’s story itself still needs documentary verification.

But it is the reason I am no longer willing to stop at one line in a hospital book saying “the child died.”

I have also found documented cases from Ukraine in later years where newborns were registered to women who had not actually given birth, using false medical paperwork. Again, that does not prove anything about my sister in 1989 — but it shows that falsification of newborn records was not impossible.

My current plan is:

wait for the hospital to show what document was behind the March 17 death entry;

get a second independent check of the civil birth/death registers;

look for former employees of Odesa Maternity Hospital No. 2 who worked there in the late 1980s;

take a MyHeritage DNA test and upload the raw DNA to additional genealogy databases.

I would really like to hear from anyone familiar with Soviet-era Ukrainian birth registration, maternity hospital records, abandoned newborns, infant death registration, or irregular adoptions in the 1980s.

In particular:

If a live-born baby died six days after birth in the Ukrainian SSR in 1989, what documentary trail should normally exist besides the hospital newborn register?

And has anyone ever encountered a case where a newborn was recorded as dead in one institution, but no corresponding civil death record could be found?

I’m trying very hard not to decide in advance what happened. I just want to follow the documents wherever they lead.

I received a somewhat rude message on Ancestry this morning saying I had the parents of someone wrong. It isn't a direct ancestor and not a part of the tree I'm working on right now, so I don't really care that I have some info wrong about the sibling of an ancestor in the 1850s.

Before you all come at me, my "real" tree in on my computer. I use my Ancestry tree to collect info and, as a verify it, I move it to my local tree. I clean up the Ancestry tree as I do this, but I will add things from other people's trees as long as they don't look crazy with the plan to research later.

Because I know there are messy and unverified sections of my tree, I keep it private. I have only shared it with two close family members. So how did this other user see enough of it to complain about it?

I literally was on my computer for 10 hours. I think it’s time to put it away again for months. I’ve been doing this since 1995. I had a cousin reach out that has an adopted out grandmother. Our DNA matched. Of course I dig and dig.
And now that someone in her pointed out the only really useful AI on family search…oh good lort. It finds handwritten proof.
I’m finally going to bed at 1am.
Any advice?

My ancestor Stefan Weber appeared out of thin air in 1853. He and his brother Ignatius Weber both are recorded as marrying on the same day, in Németlő, Hungary (part of the Burgenland. Known as Német Schücz in German at the time. Today part of Deutsch Schützen, Austria) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939V-J29D-CG?cat=koha%3A105160&view=explore&lang=en&groupId=TH-1-16730-33642-90

Their parents are recorded there (Johann/Joannes Weber and Anna Ever), but Stefan and Ignatius have no known birth record and no known death record, and their parents have no known birth record, marriage record, or death record. This makes it impossible for me to trace any further until I get past this wall. This is unusual because I've found the other birth records for ancestors of his generation in that region, and their parents' marriage records as well.

Searching for Stefan's birth record: Being listed as 26 in the 1853 marriage record, an 1826 or 1827 birth year would be expected. I looked in (as far as I know) all nearby towns' birth records for 1825-1828, however this film itself (film 700697) only starts at year 1828, but I looked through its 1828-1834 span just in case. I looked in film 602071 (containing births for Németkeresztes, Magyarkeresztes, and Cséke), for the whole the entire 1815-1834 span. I also looked on matriken.at, checking from 1819 in "group 05" through 1834 in "group 06" of the available Deutsch-Schützen records there (Eisenberg an der Pinka and other nearby towns are not available on matriken). Result: none

Searching for his parents' marriage record (Johann Weber and Anna Ever): I've looked for this in the whole 1800-1833 span of Deutsch Schützen on matriken.at. 1827+ is also highly unlikely since Stefan was probably born by 1826/1827. I don't recall whether I looked in the FamilySearch films for this marriage, but since their childrens' births were not in any of the relevant birth films, it's likely that this marriage isn't either. Result: none

Searching for Stefan's death record, in case it's of some assistance: I've looked for his death record in pages 360-412 of film 700697 (years 1867-1883) on FamilySearch so far. He could have died later than that though. Result: none

Searching for Stefan's parents' death records: same as above; I've looked through 1867-1883 so far. A death record for a Joannes Weber appears for February 23, 1883 on FamilySearch in Német Schücz, but no age is given, no spouse, and no house number. Result: none

If anyone is more experience at this, please let me know what you suggest I try next, thanks

I have the best family in the world. Being adopted, I've never met a biological relative.

I'm not trying to find my bio family, I m just trying to find OUTt about my bio family. Domestic adoption, Indiana.

Ancestry yielded nothing useful to me.

Advice?

I’m hoping some of the experienced researchers here can suggest a direction I haven’t thought of.

I’m trying to identify the parents of my ancestor Joseph Purdy, born around 1767 and died 21 August 1844 in Branch County, Michigan.

I have been working on this for quite a while, and although I’ve found a surprising amount of evidence documenting Joseph’s life, I have found nothing that definitively names his parents.

What we currently know / believe about Joseph

-Born around 1767.
-Older family information has claimed Rutland, Vermont, but I’m becoming increasingly skeptical of that.
-At least one historical record describes him as being born in New England.
-His children who survived long enough to appear in later U.S. censuses reportedly gave their father’s birthplace as New York, which makes New York seem increasingly plausible.
-Joseph appears in North Salem, Westchester County, New York, in the 1790 U.S. census.
-He married Sally Smith, born about 1769.
-Their son Horace Purdy was born about 1791.
-Their son Ransom Purdy was born July 9, 1795, with later records placing his birth in Saratoga County, New York.
-The family later spent time in Lower Canada/Quebec.
-They eventually moved west through Ohio, and Joseph died in Branch County, Michigan, in 1844.

Things I have already tried

1. Cemetery research

I contacted the cemetery where Joseph is buried asking whether they have:

-original burial registers
-plot ownership records
-sexton records
-purchase records
-correspondence
-next-of-kin information
-anything associated with Joseph’s burial

So far, nothing has surfaced identifying his parents.

2. Contacted local governments / archives

I have contacted cities, counties, historical repositories, and other local offices associated with places Joseph lived or died, particularly looking for:

-death records
-burial records
-probate
-land records
-tax records
-early settler information

Again, lots of information about Joseph himself, but nothing naming his parents.

3. Quebec / Lower Canada research

This has probably been the most interesting lead.

I found a May 1800 burial record at Carillon, Argenteuil, Lower Canada, for an infant named Orange Purdy. The record identifies the father as Joseph Purdy, farmer of Carillon.

That led me into the old Quebec notarial records.

I searched the records of notary Peter Lukin, particularly the CN601,S269 collection from around 1800.

I have now found at least three separate notarial/land records signed by Joseph Purdy himself.

These appear to establish that Joseph was actually living in the Carillon/Argenteuil area and involved in land transactions.

Unfortunately, none of the documents I’ve found so far name his father or mother.

I have also contacted Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ) regarding additional records and research.

4. Land and deed records

I’ve searched land records connected to Joseph in:

-Quebec
-New York
-Ohio
-Michigan

I have found old documents that clearly mention Joseph, including records associated with the family’s later movement into Ohio.

There is also an 1827 Huron County, Ohio-area deed/document mentioning Joseph Purdy.

Again, these help establish his movements but don’t identify his parents.

5. Census records

I have worked through census records for Joseph and his children, including the 1790 North Salem, Westchester County, New York census.

I’ve also compared the later census answers of Joseph’s children concerning their father’s birthplace.

The repeated New York answers from his children are one of the main reasons I’m questioning the old Vermont birthplace.

6. Probate and will searches

I have searched probate/will material in areas associated with Purdy families, including Westchester County, New York.

The hope was that Joseph might appear as:

a son
heir
witness
executor
debtor
purchaser
relative of another Purdy

So far I haven’t found anything that conclusively connects him to parents.

7. Existing genealogy sites

I’ve searched and compared trees/records on:

Ancestry
FamilySearch
Find a Grave (think I found his grave)
older genealogy websites
published Purdy genealogies
local histories

There are trees that assign parents to Joseph, but I have not found evidence strong enough to trust those assignments.

I’m specifically trying to avoid copying an unsourced family tree and turning somebody else’s guess into “fact.”

8. Early Purdy families

I’ve started investigating whether Joseph could descend from the large Purdy family associated with Francis Purdy (d. 1658), an early settler of Fairfield, Connecticut.

There were numerous branches of that family in Westchester County and the Hudson Valley, which geographically makes sense.

The problem is identifying which branch — if any — produced my Joseph.

9. Looking at associates rather than just Joseph

I’ve also been trying to pay attention to:

neighbors
witnesses
people appearing with him in land records
other Purdy families living nearby
migration patterns
people moving between Westchester/Saratoga → Quebec → Ohio

The hope is that Joseph may have migrated with siblings, cousins, in-laws, or neighbors.

Nothing definitive yet.

My biggest problem

I feel like I can document where this man went, but I cannot figure out where he came from.

The rough migration pattern appears to be something like:

New York/New England → Westchester County, NY → Saratoga-area NY → Carillon/Argenteuil, Lower Canada → Ohio → Michigan

Yet nowhere have I found the document that says:

“Joseph Purdy, son of ______ Purdy and ______.”

At this point I’m looking for ideas beyond the normal Ancestry/FamilySearch/census suggestions.

If this were your brick wall, what record set would you go after next?

Some things I’m wondering about:

-Church baptism records from New York/New -England around 1765–1770?
-Loyalist records?
-Quebec land petitions?
-Seigneurial records from Argenteuil?
-Additional Quebec notarial records?
-Tax lists from Westchester or Saratoga County?
-Revolutionary War-era Purdy families who had sons Joseph’s age?
-Guardianship records if Joseph’s father died while he was young?
-Probate files of possible Purdy relatives rather than Joseph himself?
-DNA cluster research on descendants of Joseph?
Y-DNA testing of a direct paternal-line Purdy descendant?
-Tracing every Purdy household near Joseph in the 1790 census?
-Following the witnesses/neighbors from his Quebec land records back into New York?

I’m completely open to obscure record sets, archives that aren’t indexed online, FAN-club research, DNA strategies, or anything else.

The goal is very specific: I want evidence identifying Joseph Purdy’s parents, not another unsourced family-tree theory.

What would you try next?

Carl Emanuel Selin, left Sweden in April 1902 with destination London and he returned from there in February 1907. Is it possible to find out where he lived? Am I correct that censuses were conducted in 1901 and 1911, but not in between those years? Is there any other way to find where someone lived?

He was born 13 March 1882. First name is sometimes spelled Karl and last name Sehlin.

He likely work in a restaurant or a hotel. Or went to some school for that, because when he returned to Stockholm he worked at Grand Hôtel and he became the maître d’ at Hotell Rydberg a few years later. To my knowledge those were the poshest/fanciest places in Stockholm at the time.

This man has a quite interesting story. He was apparently very well known in Stockholm, ran his own establishment for a while, and was also responsible for the restaurant at the royal yacht club, before he started bootlegging alcohol or maybe it was at the same time. Well he got caught, had to do some time, escaped to Hamburg, Germany (where he had his companions in the liquor business). Got caught again, sent back to Sweden on a ship, escaped again by jumping in the water, caught a third time, did the rest of his time and was ”rewarded” by the restaurant business in Stockholm with a new good position. A few years later he became the chairman for the Stockholm association of maître d’s…
(Most of this information was written in newspapers at the time. Sweden didn’t quite have prohibition, but sale of alcohol became heavily restricted around 1920)

I'm trying to research my great-grandmother and her parents.

My great grandmother was born in Philly with one name, then her name was changed before she was 8 years old. No idea why.

Her parents:

Father: there are no records of him prior to his daughter's wedding. I think he lied about his name.

Mother: She was an orphan in Italy, came to America. Or so we were told. There are no records of her until her she married a new man.

I don't even know where to go. The family story is that they both came to America through Ellis Island, but their names aren't in the records there. So I have no idea.

What do I do?

Edited to add: After some encouragement here is what I've got:

My great-Grandmother was: Emilie Helen Eaton. Born Victoria Gladys Gabriel December 6, 1921 in Philadelphia. Died April 5, 1999 in Las Vegas.

Great-Great Grandmother: Born in Italy as Lena Tonzelllo (alternate spellings are Tonzella and Tonzelle) Died as Lena Amabile on May 5, 1940 in Philadelphia.

Great-Great Grandfather: Charles Gabriel, unknown birth or death. Family story is he is from Poland.

Maybe we could be vetted as to intent etc., but I would like something more active than genealogy websites and more precise than social media. I am finding a lot of people, however distant (but also strong DNA connections) that have recently deceased. I would super like to get to know some people before they're all gone. Hear their stories of what those sides were like and mot just a public record, and see what they're like themselves.

I've been working on my family tree somewhat sporadically for the last 5 years. Last year I got really into it again, bought every subscription I could find, dug through family photos, family records, obituaries, newspaper archives, library archives, etc. I've requested military records, death certificates, baptismal records, anything I can think of. I've also posted in this sub a handful of times and people have tried to help as much as they could (and they've found tons of great info!), which is so appreciated.

With all that being said, I made some major progress at the end of 2025, but since then I have not gotten anywhere. I've spent hours every week (sometimes 20+ hours) trying to trace back my ancestors on one side of the family, but literally nothing new.

I have gone down a million rabbit holes, attempted to trace back (distant) cousins I've DNA matched with, and I think I'm beginning to feel like I'm just... stuck. I truly believe the records I need just don't exist and I don't know where else to look. The records I'd be looking for most likely were from Ireland in the mid 1800's. I was talking about this with one of my coworkers recently, and she said she's in the same boat. She tried to request some records but was told they all burned in church fires over the years.

I'm not usually a quitter, and honestly, this is driving me absolutely bonkers. I'm stuck on my maternal grandmother's side, and only a few generations back which is what is driving me nuts too. Based on DNA matches, and some questionable archived documents, I could certainly make some assumptions, but I don't feel confident enough to do so.

My other lines can all be traced back hundreds of years with LOTS of records, and honestly could go even further back than that most likely, I just need to work on translating some documents.

I feel like I have one of two options:

1. Hire a professional, but to be honest I don't know if I want to sink that much money into something that may not go anywhere.

2. Give up.

So, I guess my question is, when did you give up? Or do you think there's always a possibility out there?

I am trying to break through a brick wall on A. P. (supposedly Anthony Preston) Merriman (also spelled Merryman) and would appreciate any fresh eyes, records, or suggestions on his parentage, family, and date/place of death.

Biographical Summary & Family

• Name: A. P. (Anthony Preston in some trees but unverified) Merriman (also recorded as Merryman)
• Birth: ~1810 in Tennessee
• Spouse: Sarah ? (1814–1857), married ~1836 in Kentucky
• Known Children:
  • Louisa Jane Merriman (b. ~1837, KY)
  • Duritha Merriman (b. March 21, 1841, Hopkins/Simpson Co., KY – d. 1882)
  • Isaac Louis/Lloyd "Bud" Merriman (b. ~1854, TX – d. 1921)

Confirmed Timeline & Primary Records

• 1840 — Simpson County, Kentucky:
  • Enumerated on the 1840 US Federal Census in Simpson County.
• November 30, 1844 — Simpson County, Kentucky (Chancery Court):
  • Identified as a complainant alongside his wife's kin in Lewis Laney & others v. C. McCany & others. ⚬ Filed an affidavit for a continuance to the next term; court granted leave to depose Matthew Miller, Polly McGrail, and William Hargus.
• January 12, 1850 — Navarro County, Texas (Guardianship Bond):
  • Signed as a financial surety on a $600 bond backing Hiram Lewis, appointed guardian of the estate of Martha A. Lewis's minor heir (recorded by Chief Justice S. C. Cross).
• 1850 — Navarro County, Texas (Federal Census):
  • Enumerated as a farmer in Navarro County.
• October 23, 1850 — Mercer’s Colony, Texas (Land Certificate):
  • Issued Mercer's Colony Certificate No. 1151 for 640 acres (Robertson 3rd Class) by Commissioner John M. Crockett (qualifying as a married head of household).
• November 11, 1851 — Harrison County, Texas (Land Sale):
  • Personally appeared before a Notary Public in Harrison County to assign and transfer Certificate No. 1151 to R. C. Donaldson for value received.
• ~1853–1854 — Texas (Estimated Death Window):
  • Likely died in Texas after ~1853 (following the conception/birth of son Isaac Louis "Bud" Merriman in 1854). *Isaac is living with Duritha in the 1860 census.
• 1856–1857 — Hill County, Texas (Patent Process):
  • Surveyed on Chambers Creek in Hill County (August 1856) and officially patented to assignee R. C. Donaldson (Patent No. 585, Vol. 15, Abst. 595) on July 13, 1857.

Images of Documents: https://imgur.com/a/uCbuwYo

FamilySearch Page: https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/person/details/2Z31-HV2

Can anyone please help me find the parents, marriage record/proof of wife, and death or burial details? I would sincerely appreciate any recommendations or assistance with this brick wall! Thank you in advance!

Hi all, new to the sub. I'm from the US and recently discovered around 80% of my direct ancestors are allegedly from the UK, with around 65% of that coming straight from England (mainly the areas of what were once called Lancashire, Cheshire and Yorkshire). I don't know how accurate this is, so I've been entertaining the idea of just traveling over there for maybe a month or two and seeing what documents they have to verify (would have been around the 1500-1600's when most of the earliest ones were recorded to have been born / lived there).

I've been interested in genealogy for a while but it was only recently that I found the website FamilySearch, and after connecting profiles for people I knew were correct, I downloaded every generation of my family tree pedigree that it had. I then found the RootsMagic desktop app because I wanted to make a GEDCOM file, since the app has an inbuilt function to select for just direct ancestors, and I want to use that to apply to any hereditary lineage societies I may be eligible for in the future.

I plan to have it all audited by either a professional genealogist company or an independent person/team to see if there are any mistakes (there are probably tons, seeing as how anyone can contribute and add things to FamilySearch), but also wanted to know if anyone here has traveled to other countries to do research on their ancestors like this themselves before? Or have most people here just opted to pay professional companies to do the work for them instead? Any advice is appreciated, thanks!

Matteo emigrò in Brasile e sbarcò a Genova nel 1891. Purtroppo, per quanto ne so, non abbiamo documenti di famiglia che possano aiutarmi a ricostruire la loro storia e non conosco nemmeno con certezza il comune o la regione italiana da cui provenivano.

Ho già cercato su FamilySearch, ma non ho trovato informazioni utili.

Per questo motivo, sto cercando fonti alternative: archivi, registri parrocchiali, registri comunali, database, gruppi locali o qualsiasi altro luogo dove potrebbe essere possibile trovare informazioni su Matteo Boschetti ed Enrichetta Meneghelli.

Cerco informazioni precedenti a loro, sui genitori di Matteo ed Enrichetta, sui fratelli, ecc. Tutto ciò che potevo raccogliere in Brasile è già stato raccolto. Non c’è più nulla da cercare qui; ormai tutto si trova in Italia.

Se qualcuno conosce questi nomi, la famiglia Boschetti o sa indicarmi dove e come potrei continuare la ricerca, sarei davvero molto grata.

Grazie mille a chiunque possa aiutarmi

I hit the wall researching my great great grandmother, Bertha/Barbara Tiefenbach Rezar.

I’ve spent years and still cannot find who her parents were.
________

Barbara Tiefenbach was born 19 December 1884 in Yugoslavia.
________

Barbara also went by the name of Bertha in some of her paperwork after she came to the US; she immigrated under the name Barbara Tiefenbach 18 Jul 1905 with her younger cousin, Bertha Rauch.
I will refer to her has Barbara furthermore:

They came to stay with Bertha’s (Rauch)‘s brother, Filip/Filib/Philip Rauch in Pennsylvania when they first arrived in the US.
Bertha Rauch Married Albert Possel (for validity purposes).
___

Barbara Tiefenbach married Michael Bogumir Rezar 6 April 1907.

They had 3 children: Wilhelmina, Theodore, & Anna Rezar.

They lived in Allegheny, Pennsylvania; Bridgeport, Connecticut; but mostly New York: Manhattan, Bronx, & also a home in Port Jefferson.

____

Per her marriage license:
Matej Tiefenbach was listed as her father - BUT I think this is a misspelling; could be Matthias / another spelling of the variation due to her speaking German & having had a thick accent.
Anna Rechner was listed as her mother.
____

I believe Anna Rechner was the sister of Theresia Rechner (Rauch), who was the mother of Bertha Rauch, the cousin Barbara immigrated with.

Their location on the ship manifest stated Cslano; but I wonder if it was Slano…
_____

The only family member I know of on the Tiefenbach side was Jakob Tiefenbach (23 May 1918-3 March 2010).

He was born in Baschka, Palanka

_____

I have a bunch of information on her husband, Michael Rezar - but I cannot validate anything solid for Barbara.

Please - if anyone can help, I would be so grateful.

Hello everyone! Will anyone be attending the (virtual) APG PMC 2026 conference this year? I have never attended and am wondering whether other genealogists found it helpful in the past? It's not an ENORMOUS sum to participate ($200 for 5 days), but it is still an investment and I am trying to gather what others have thought about it in the past.

I have also never attended any of the APG's conferences, as I am EU/UK-based, so I was wondering if anyone based outside the US found it applicable to them?

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts, and thank you!

I was going through some old family heirlooms and artifacts and found a 77 page journal from this voyage. It lists the commanders as C. Bolton and Samuel Mercer, and says they left Washington on. Thursday 22nd July, 1847. I would love to know if there is any historical significance to the voyage, about John Carroll Brent and his role on the ship, I believe he is an ancestor of mine. 

When grandfather died a couple years ago, my aunts put aside all the old family photos and old records. They knew my dad would be interested in having it, but we live across the country from them.This summer, one of my aunts took their camper and drove out to us and dropped off three rubermaid tubs. One filled with papers, one of photos that have names/identification on them, and one of photgraphs that have no names. There are hundreds of old post cards, cabinet cards, and carte-de-visite.

My job now is to digitize the photos, if possible identify who is in the photographs, and then file the physical copies in a way that will preserve them for the future. I know we will need to purchase archival quality storage supplies, and a scanner, as both the scanners we have access to are low resolution document scanners. I know nothing about scanners, what should I be looking for?

I am also rather overwhelmed with the amount of old photos here. I've never had any physical items other than a handful of copies. How do you even start with a project this large?

Hello, I am looking for the birth and marriage records of my ancestors, Filip Kalivoda and David Nepustil.

Filip was born around 1732, most likely in the village of Hanovice in Moravia. His son, Jakub, was born on July 22, 1787, in Hanovice. Filip was married to Kateřina Malý or Kvapil.

Jakub birth recrord https://digi.archives.cz/da/permalink/be965a20-f13c-102f-8255-0050568c0263/a4938d9363c94d159207e934896e1c6a

I am also looking for records concerning David Nepustil, who was born around 1724. His father was Antonín Nepustil. David was married twice, first to Kateřina and later to Anna Kropáč.

David was most likely born near Hanovice, in the village of Sobáčov. He married Anna Kropáč in 1785 in Nasobůrky.

Teresa(daughter of David) birth record https://digi.archives.cz/da/permalink/be9640f8-f13c-102f-8255-0050568c0263/59fcfbe9a6cf4103af215b11e1ce5724

I am from another country, so it is difficult for me to navigate Czech websites.

I would be very grateful for any information or records that could help me trace these ancestors and their families.

How does one print a family tree as they do on Finding Your Roots on PBS?

I have a French relative, Rene Steinbusch, born in 1891 in France and I would imagine he was in the First World War but I don't know for sure. I found some of his uncles had been in the French Army in the late 19th century but nothing on him. All I know is his birth date and where he was born, Paris, and his parentage. I suppose he could have died as a child or moved somewhere but we don't have any information. How would I research if he was in the military or not? Thank you!

I am primarily looking for the names of his parents and siblings and his date of birth to find out if the author is the same Viggo Emil Kaaris I discovered. His surname may have previously been Sörensen.

The name of the authors son is Paul Kaaris. He was an politician. (diplomat )

I need sources for this informations. Thank you very much.

Hiya, I have a personal interest in family trees and have spent time building my own and various friends' trees on Ancestry. I am currently on my SO's tree, up a few generations in Louisiana, mid-to-late 1800s and early 1900s. I've lost most hope of finding out more about this ancestor, Maria (no maiden name) Carpenter. I provided a link to the newspapers.com article from her death, which details her past and lists now-passed family members, which I was able to link up with this specific ancestor on Louisiana census records. A discrepancy I notice is that the newspaper article states she may have been born in 1835, aged 124, and her gravestone supports this by saying she was born in 1836 and died in 1959, aged 123 (this small difference I chalk up to newspapers exaggerating/mistyping). A larger discrepancy is found when we compare census records to this Maria Carpenter- which I am 99.99% sure is the same person (the newspaper article lists sons, Ruben, "Isey" possibly Isaac, and daughter "Nattie" probably Mattie- all of which can be found on census records with parental relation to Maria Carpenter). Various census records show Maria's birth year ranging from 1855-1868 from the years 1900 to 1950, which would be a maximum of 102 years old- much larger of a gap. I will list summaries of the census records below, along with things I can match specifically to the newspaper article. Side note: I do understand census records with names and ages can be finicky since much of it was by oral communication.

Further, there are children she had to a different man than Carpenter, before her marriage and Carpenter children. I cannot identify this father, but her sons (one of which are my SO's direct ancestor) are listed with her in the 1900 and 1910 census records with the last name Knox. These sons are not listed in the newspaper article, likely because they had already passed by 1959. Neither Knox Sr or Carpenter Sr are mentioned in the newspaper article either.

The newspaper article also cites record of Maria being born in Kentucky, which I cannot find. Siblings of hers I also cannot find because I cannot find any parentage, and since she was born into slavery, I don't know if those records can be found. The article also states she did not have a last name for most of her youth. This I can assume is true because, from what I can find, she was only listed as Maria Knox in her marriage record to Calvin Carpenter. Afterwards, she was known as Maria Carpenter, and I can find no record of a different last name before this. To further support this, her son Phillip Carpenter has, in his Social Security claim index, his parents as Calvin Carpenter and Mirie Baines. If we assume Mirie is Marie/Maria, we may also infer that Baines refers to one of the families she was sold to shortly before being freed (as cited in the newspaper article at her death). Which, it was practice for freed slaves to take the names of those they were freed from- something Phillip or those in the family may have assumed applied to Maria. But it is clear Maria regarded herself as having no last name in her youth according to the newspaper article.

In all, I would appreciate any help with this research- I can provide more of my sources if needed. I specifically wonder if there is a large discrepancy in her age because she was a freed slave and wouldn't have much knowledge of her true age due to poor records? I am unsure whether to trust her age in the newspaper or the ages in the census records without better proof of age.

I am also interested in finding the father of Emanuel (1881-1943) and William Knox (1885-1956), children of Maria. I am assuming the marriage records of the two may not exist, nor may the sons' birth records, since they were born, likely enslaved, during the Civil War.

Please let me know what you think and ask me any further questions.

Here are the census summaries:
1890 census, oh how I wish I had you...

1900 Maria Carpenter

Birthdate Mar 1868

Listed as Head (wife) with Calvin as husband - married 9 years. Sons Isaac and Phillip. Also Manuel and William Knox, sons.

1910 Maria Carpenter

Birthdate 1857

Marital Status: Widowed

Listed as Mother to Head, which is William Knox. Along with William's wife, son, and daughter. Also William's siblings (Maria's children) Isic (Isaac), Phillip, Ruben, and Mattie Carpenter.

1920 Cannot find; however, I can find two 1930 census records where she lives with different sons

1930 Marrie Carpenter

Birthdate 1862

Listed as Mother to Head, which is Isc (Isaac) Carpenter. Along with Isaac's daughter and servant.

1930 Merian Carpenter

Birthdate 1861 -similar year listed in other 1930 census; it is clear both households had the impression she was around 68/69 years old at the time.

Listed as Mother to Head, which is Ruben Carpenter. Along with Ruben's wife and son. Also Mattie Roberson (Maria's daughter and Ruben's sister) and her daughter.

1940 Maria Carpenter

Birthdate 1861 -similar to previous years, but same household

Listed as Mother to Head, which is Ruben Carpenter (widowed). Along with Ruben's son. Also Mattie Roberson and her daughter.

1950 Myra (?) Carpenter

Due to the misspelling, I think, I could not find this on Ancestry naturally through Maria. I could only find it through Ruben, who she lives with at this time.

Birthdate 1855

Listed as Mother to Head, which is Ruben Carpenter. Along with Mattie Roberson. Isaac Carpenter and his wife live a few doors down at this time.

Newspaper article for Maria Carpenter (subscription required for newspaper.com):

https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-shreveport-journal-maria-carpenter/205051830/

Gravestone on Find a Grave (connected to her son, Issac Carpenter):

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/93572531/mariah-carpenter