Searching...
Not your typical Sam post. I'm looking for someone. My paternal grandfather died around 1943 in a training accident here in the States while in the Army. When the soldier came to my grandmother's door, she found out that the last name her husband had given her was not his true last name. My father was about 1 1/2 years old. My grandmother then changed my dad's last name and her own to reflect this new information. My grandfather was an only child as far as I know. I do not know anyone from this side of the family. I have some old pictures and a name.
My father was an only child. I did not know anyone from his mom's side of the family, however I have some stories and more pictures. My paternal grandmother died when I was 3 months old. In an attempt to find my paternal grandfather's family I found a second cousin of mine from my grandmother's side. It took one website, one email to the webmaster and the next thing I know I have an email from my dad's cousin (on the maternal side). Wow! There is someone out there that grew up with my father, and he even remembers meeting me when I was 2 years old. However, when it come to the paternal side, I find nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch. You get the point.
Searching online under my grandfather's last name has produced nothing but a zillion hits for my dad. My dad had a very popular website, and his first and last name are the same as my grandfather. So I search under "John Smith" and I find my dad everywhere. I use the middle initial and find nothing. Argh!
So, my dear readers... What is the best way to find information about someone that died during World War II? I'd like to know where he was buried and if there is anyone else out there... I want to know why he gave my grandma a fake name, it sounds like an interesting story.
Sorry for the non-funny disjointed post... more Sam's Stories to come.
My father was an only child. I did not know anyone from his mom's side of the family, however I have some stories and more pictures. My paternal grandmother died when I was 3 months old. In an attempt to find my paternal grandfather's family I found a second cousin of mine from my grandmother's side. It took one website, one email to the webmaster and the next thing I know I have an email from my dad's cousin (on the maternal side). Wow! There is someone out there that grew up with my father, and he even remembers meeting me when I was 2 years old. However, when it come to the paternal side, I find nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch. You get the point.
Searching online under my grandfather's last name has produced nothing but a zillion hits for my dad. My dad had a very popular website, and his first and last name are the same as my grandfather. So I search under "John Smith" and I find my dad everywhere. I use the middle initial and find nothing. Argh!
So, my dear readers... What is the best way to find information about someone that died during World War II? I'd like to know where he was buried and if there is anyone else out there... I want to know why he gave my grandma a fake name, it sounds like an interesting story.
Sorry for the non-funny disjointed post... more Sam's Stories to come.
posted by Sam at
8:32 PM
11 Comments:
I think that it is fascinating, Sam. I have a friend who might have an idea where you can start. I will ask him and let you know. Or I will have him contact you directly by email if that is okay.
Hmm. I wish I had some info for you, but I don't. Good luck!
Good luck! I'm sure there's gotta be some site somewhere.. where there are public records. I should ask KC, he'd probably know something...
go to the Geneolgy department of your local library or the biggest library near you. Also a library in the town he died in. If there is a local newspaper that was around then check the microfilm section of library, sometimes they have the newspaper on microfilm. Its hard work but you can find out stuff if you look. Also your grandfather may have been in the cencus of 1910 slim but maybe. 1920 cencus comes out in 2010 I think he should be in it. Feel free to e-mail me any questions.
It depends on how much you are willing to shell out. $$$
I looked into my family (both sides) and found a lot out using Ancestry.com. I was lucky, another family member had already done a lot. However, I already knew a lot so that helped too. I would say start by going to (or contacting) the county seat of the county where the person you are looking for was born to get birth certificates. Also look for Death certificates. These can help find out parental names.
You said he was in the Army, see if you can find a draft slip or any other forms from when he enlisted. I found my great-grandfather's and it helped pinpoint his birthday. Also check the library for articles, birth, death announcements, obits, etc.
HTH
Have you tried the Army? They may be able to provide you with at least his military record and it may contain information that will lead to other information. I'm not sure what the rules are about giving a granddaughter a military record though.
I don't really have any ideas for you but I do wish you the best of luck finding the information you seek.
I find this story fascinating. If you find the information you are looking for, you just have to share it. It is like a mystery!! I would love to know why he changed his name.
I can't really add anything that the others didn't already... but definitely contact the largest library you can. We live near our state library and they're known for their geneology services.
if you have his social security number the military will help you unless they have changed
listen to jay. i don't know who he is, but he sounds like a librarian. he is exactly right. there is SO much stuff out there for geneaology (sp?) nowadays. FYI: it can be very time consuming to do what you are trying to do. it might take a while. but i think it is really cool!!!
re: him changing his last name. if he was an immigrant, he might have changed it to avoid being deported. back in the day, they were so weird about quotas. my great-great grandfather lied to the census and said he was an american citizen, born in Wisconsin. Yeah, whatever. he was FOB from Ireland. but they fell for it. if he was an immigrant, even knowing the year he immigrated would be helpful.
did he change the name slightly, because it could just be an easier/americanized spelling...? if he was italian, irish, jewish, Catholic, Native American, Armenian or another minority, he could have suffered from discrimination, and decided to make things easier for his family by changing it.
see if there is a local geneaological society nearby--it would be a good place to start. they might be able to show you the ropes.
there might be a library near you that specializes in geneaology, too. i cannot begin to tell you how valuable a place like this would be.
ok, i can't type or spell that word, so i will now abbreviate it to "gen."
some librarians specialize in this field. your best bet is to start at your local public library--there are databases which they may have that can give you a ton of info. then maybe go from there.
ok, so after the public and/or local gen. library, your next step would probably be military records. they are pretty good about keeping stuff like that. like they said, a SSN goes a long way. so does knowing the towns/counties of birth and death. there's always an obituary somewhere!
if you are willing to pay, you can hire someone to do this for you. tip: get recommendations from others since there are scam artists who will con you or do crappy jobs. not that you are a sucker or anything. it's just good to be wary.
oh crap. this is getting long. tell ya what. email me and i can look up some stuff for you. if you feel comfy telling me his name and stuff, i can see what i can find. i am a librarian with nothing to do. and i think family tree stuff is SO cool. i'd love to help. my public library has lots of handy dandy databases that i play on from time to time anyway. that's how i found out my grandpa used to be a soda jerk. (had no idea! and neither did my mom!) so just email me.
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