I built a website called Memoria for keeping family memorials. It is not a genealogical website - that is, it does not focus on research. Instead, its purpose is to provide information on a family to the public, with password protection on the living relatives. Looking for feedback. https://renomad.com/blogposts/memoria_features.html

I want to backup my data from 23andMe, and possibly delete my account. From memory they didn't make it so I could download my family and friend matches.

Ideas? Tips?

I have wanted to do this for months, just now taking time off to do that (and back up all my trees, stuff I try to do often).

Hey Everyone!

Sorry if this isn’t the right place, but I’m not sure where to look. As the title suggests, I recently found out who my biological dad is via my biological half-sibling reaching out after taking, by chance, the same brand of DNA test as me.

I am interested to meet them and am genuinely excited, but am unsure when I should set up a meeting. I guess I’m nervous?? I also live pretty far away so popping over for tea isn’t possible.

Any suggestions for literature on this subject or any personal rec’s you might have would be very welcome.

I'd like a second pair of eyes to take a look at this village name in my 4th-great grandfather's marriage. I'd like to find his baptism, but I have been having trouble figuring out which village or parish he was born in. He lived in Mazowieckie voivodeship and may have been from the area around Niedzbórz (if his first marriage is accurate). Here's a link to the act in question on Familysearch. It's act number 12 in the bottom right. The village name appears at the end of line 7. It doesn't seem like any letters were cut off, or at least no letters are missing from the word above (Antoniego) nor the word below (mającym).

Some other information:

My 4th-great grandfather, Wojciech Grabowski, was married in 1848 in the parish of Szyszki to my 4th-great grandmother Teofila Karpińska. She was a native to the parish, and he was a widower at the time. I believe I found his first marriage in the same parish, but both his father's name and birthplace differ. This other marriage was in 1839 between Wojciech Grabowski and Marianna Podgórska. According to the marriage in 1848, he was the son of the late Antoni Grabowski and his wife Marianna. According to the potential first marriage in 1839, he was the son of the late Szymon Grabowski and his wife Marianna and born in Niedzbórz. That said: (1) 'Wojciech and Marianna' and 'Wojciech and Teofila' lived in the same village in Szyszki, (2) Marianna died before the marriage to Teofila, (3) second-wife Teofila's father was one of the witnesses to the probable first marriage in 1839, and (4) a lack of any conflicting records or other candidates so far. I have yet to find any leads in Niedzbórz, so I'm hoping this other village is a more promising path. Wojciech Grabowski died in 1872 in the parish of Karniewo, but his burial does not offer any information about his origins.

Links:

1848 Marriage: Familysearch (Act 12) and Imgur

1839 Marriage: Familysearch (Act 10) and Imgur

Hello,

I have a question regarding birth records from Ukraine. I need a certified copy of the birth certificate of my grandfather’s sister, who was born in Lviv in 1925.

How can I obtain an authenticated copy of this document? Should I contact the Civil Registry Office or the State Archive?

Is it possible to obtain an apostille?

What are the costs and processing times, and can the office send the document to the Netherlands?

Thank you for your help!

It's Monday, so we want to hear about the most interesting ancestor's story you discovered this week!

Did your 6th great-grandfather jump ship off the coast of Colonial America rather than work off his term as an indentured servant? Was your 13th great-grandmother a minor European noble who was suspected of poisoning her husband? Do your 4th great-grandparents have an epic love story?

Tell us all about it!

This is the information that we have on ancestry but not the original document. Ultimately we want to find the correct town in calabria that he is from to find his birth document on antenati. Hoping to also find his ship manifest, he came to the USA in 1903

This is his naturalization information

CER: 989995 NAME: CERTONE Vincenzo ADMITTED: 10-1-18 PET: 18390 Vol. 75 M.

Here is his family search profile

Vincenzo Certonio

https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/L9C6-XW6

I like their wiki style but don't like the community or amount of low quality profiles

Don't mind self hosting or running on my own hardware

Thanks in advance :)

I want to find the official ruling for my mothers passing. She was in a messed up place and my family just talk about her in hushed whispers or shit that I'd like not to attribute to her.

I found her Obituary but its behind a hard paywall and it feels scummy to pay Washington post or whoever to know.

Hello. I'm stuck and unable to find more information about the origins of my great-great-grandfather. I can't find a birth or death cerificate for him.

Unable to find his name in the census. But under father's birthplace for my great-grandfather, it says "Maine" or "United States".

I have his marriage certificate with my great-great-grandmother from 1895. However, he isn't on the 1900 census with her.

I can't find a death certificate but my grandmother lists herself as married until the 1920 census when she is listed as widowed.

All other information on him was found in the Denver, CO city directory where he appears in 1892 as "com trav". The following year until 1899 he is listed as "canvasser".

Can anyone draw any conclusions as to what his occupation was? I'm not clear what com trav or canvasser means.

Where he may have gone? Where to look for more information? These are the only obvious clues I have. Perhaps someone can point me in the right direction?

Trying to find out who my dad's dad was. I found his 2nd cousin once removed on ancestry...

Does it sound right that this person's great-grandparent would be my father's great uncle/aunt?

I have the names of this person's 8 great-grandparents... any ideas on how to narrow which one is my dad's great uncle/aunt?

Hi everyone,

I’ve been doing a lot of research on my Norwegian ancestors lately, and I’ve ran into quite a few headaches with region locks on digitized Farm Histories. Apparently, the vast majority of them are only viewable for people in Norway. I have managed to get a full PDF copy of Hole Parish’s Bygdebok, which has been extremely helpful in my research, but I haven’t been able to get any other ones that I need. I’ve heard of people using VPNs to get around the blocks, but I don’t have one as of right now, and I don’t want to put my data at risk using a free one. I also think that UMinn has most of the books that I need, but I don't live anywhere near Minnesota. Do I have any other options? I'm mainly interested in the ones from Solum and Sauherad Parishes in Telemark at the moment, by the way.

Thanks in advance!

I am researching an American ancestor William Valentine, born in 1811 in New York, who died in Fiji in 1856. His death was not officially registered locally, but I know the U.S. Consul recorded the deaths of American citizens in Fiji during that time. However, I have not yet found a consular entry for him in 1856. His seaman’s certificate confirms his birth year and place as 1811 in New York.

Since he traveled abroad, I assume he would have been issued a passport. According to William L. Hudson of the U.S. Exploring Expedition, there were four Americans living in Levuka, Fiji in 1840, one of whom was my ancestor "William Valentine of New York, who had been there for four years." This suggests he arrived in Fiji around 1836. Is there a way to locate a copy of his passport?

We have extensively researched his life in Fiji, including his relationships, children, and timeline there. The birth records of his children born in Fiji list his occupation as a butcher. We are seeking information about his life before arriving in Fiji, particularly regarding his family in New York and any records that might shed light on his early years.

I do not currently have a subscription to Ancestry.com, so I am hoping someone might be able to assist with searching for his passport or pointing me toward consular records for Fiji in 1856. Any guidance or help would be greatly appreciated! 🙏🏼 Thank you in advance!

Hello All! Not sure if this is the best place to ask this question. If not please direct me towards the proper group. I am doing research on a small african American church in a small town in rural Alabama. I was wondering where would be the best place to get started learning about the history of the church. The church records kept in house were very few and im currently not in the local area to visit the Musuem or local library. Is there any online resources that I can use to get started?

1/ Name William V Kierman

Death Date 2 May 1925

Event Type Obituary

Event Date 3 May 1925

Event Place San Diego, San Diego, California

Newspaper San Diego Union

2/ Name Elizabeth Kierman

Death Date 15 Dec 1925

Event Type Obituary

Event Date 18 Dec 1925

Event Place San Diego, California

Newspaper Evening Tribune

Does anyone know of a town in eastern europe (most likely croatia) that used to be called Orezuica? I found documentation from my great grandpas naturalization and it says that he was born in that town but it doesn’t seem like it ever existed.

I was able to track down a relative who would likely know my 3rd great grandparent and is willing to chat (so exciting I know!). I don’t really know anything about this person like at all except that they are related to me.

What are questions you like to ask to get the conversation rolling? I have done interviews before so I understand the basic questions/format.

Any words of advice? out of the box suggestions/questions?

Open to hear what you willing to share! TIA

Help finding a history sub for this post about my grandfather in Iran

I just found this photo of my great grandfather before my family came to the US. I don’t know much about him other than he was a Christian Armenian in Iran. His daughter was born in 1942 and I am trying to put a timeline together. Is there anything that anyone can tell me about the general time of the photo based on the uniform or any fun facts? Or even what the uniform is and if it tells anything about his position or rank/duty? I can’t seem to find it. And if this is the incorrect subreddit can someone point me in the right direction? Photo on my account!!!

In 1880 census, Henry was in the State Penitentiary for 2 years for shooting a man. Who? How can I find trial records? In 1875 he lived in Langdon, Reno, Kansas with JD Anderson. In 1891, a John Anderson took over a coal shaft in Girard Kansas. There was a mine accident and a "Henry Tennant" was hit in the head and almost died. I think this was my great . Family lore says he got hit by a brick from a chimney and he developed water on the brain. He ended up in a mental institute where he died. I also can't find the 1890 census records for this Henry and Francis Tennant.

I finally found what I believe is the marriage record of my 4x Grandparents, working only off their daughters birth record, Maria Stella Caruso, I was wondering if someone could try and translate the records to confirm if they match up or not.

Marriage

https://antenati.cultura.gov.it/ark:/12657/an_ua531327/w176mWp?lang=en

Their Daughters Birth Record

https://antenati.cultura.gov.it/ark:/12657/an_ua531480/wlkZYRR

Does anyone know any easy way to get a list of all the names in my ancestry tree?

A friend is trying to apply for German citizenship under Article 116 (2) of the Basic Law (GG) and believes she’s eligible through her great-grandfather, Leopold D. Silberstein, who was born in Berlin in 1904 and fled Nazi persecution in 1933. He later became a U.S. citizen in 1954.

The eligibility is based on her great-grandfather, great-grandmother, and grandmother (all on her mother’s side), who were all German citizens before fleeing Nazi Germany.

She’s gathered the following documents:

• Birth certificate (showing her mother as the parent)
• Mother’s birth certificate
• Grandparents' German birth certificates
• Documents showing they fled persecution (immigration, naturalization, Nazi-era documents)
• Passport/ID

She’s unsure how to proceed with the addresses required in the application. Her great-grandparents moved from Berlin to Amsterdam before fleeing Nazi occupation and eventually coming to New York, but she can’t find the last addresses for either location in Berlin and Amsterdam. Should she include both Berlin and Amsterdam addresses? Any advice or help with finding the missing documents would be appreciated!

I have alot of polish ancestors mostly from upper silesia, a pair of great grandparents born in early to mid 1700s were born with russian names, but ended up in poland and ended up with polish names, which were the equivalent of their previous. I was wondering how common this was as it seems unusual to me.

Hello everyone! I had some ancestors with the surname Kurochkin/Kurochka from the villages of Novopavlovka and Sniznhe in the Miys okrug of the Oblast Voiska Donskovo, Russian empire. They settled there in the late 1700s, and in the 1880s and early 1900s moved to the Amur Oblast. The earliest ancestor I have with this surname, Danilo Andreev Kurochka, was born around 1773 and was a fugitive from Galicia who was fleeing from authorities/police and settled in the Donbass around the 1780s-1790s. Can you please say, in which archive could I possibly look in to find out more information about Danilo, from his time in Galicia?

I’m trying to find what part of the Austro-Hungarian empire my great-grandfather was born in. His paperwork from America seems to vary, 1910 census he lists Austria, 1920 census he lists Bohemia, and 1930 census he lists Czechoslovakia. The town he is from is also very, very small today, so online sources haven’t been too helpful. It says on his birth certificate that he was born in Zahrádek, Czechoslovakia, but I feel like this must have been amended at some point, because he was born in 1874, before Czechoslovakia was a country.

When I look this place up, it yields multiple results, so i’m not sure what’s more likely. I know that my grandpa told me that his Dad spoke Czech, but he could have also possibly spoken German as well, but neither very well as he mostly spoke English, so it doesn’t really narrow much down. I also know that he changed the spelling of our last name from Lukas, to Lucas sometime in the late 1930’s to the early 1940’s, if that gives any clues. We are not Jewish at all and he never left America after leaving Europe, so changing it because of the war would have been a weird choice, but it’s possible.

I’m trying to obtain citizenship by descent in Hungary based off of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, so it’s important which kingdom he was officially born in. Can anyone help me?

I'm assisting someone with finding information about her father who died before she was born. He was supposedly adopted, but my research has me wondering if he was actually living with his biological father's family.

I'm trying to figure out how the family can get a hold of his birth certificate. He was born in New York and told he was given up for adoption. They were given a name of his mother long ago and had family photos of her growing up and some loose records. But, the surname of the child does not match her last name. They have no details for the father and assumed the child was illegitimate and given the unknown father's name.

I found the boy in the New York Manhatten vital records using his exact birth date and the surname he had when he appeared in the 1930s census of his "adoptive" grandparent's house. He is listed as a 7yr old boarder with a completely different last name from the rest of the family. Then in 1940 he's listed with the adoptive family surname, as a son.

So the woman I'm helping has a different last name from her father's birth name, no adoption records to prove a name change or show a paper trail from the name in the NY vital records to the name on her father's death certificate. How would she go about proving her lineage?

I am looking for advice on where else to look for information on my Great Great Grandmother. I am missing when she passed and any information on her immigration to the U.S.

I have utilized FamilySearch and Ancestry mainly but have tried looking up other genealogy websites and official government searches.

From a U.S. Census, I know she immigrated to the U.S. from Lithuania in 1913. She married my Great Great Grandfather in 1915. She had my Great Grandfather in 1918. The last official documentation I can find of her being alive is a 1920 U.S Census and she is listed with my Great Grandfather in an address book in 1921. In 1924, there is record of my Great Great Grandfather returning to the U.S. from Germany with my Great Grandfather where he is listed as a Widow.

My Great Great Grandmothers name is misspelled/documented differently 4 different times, I have tried looking up all different forms/spellings of her name, to no avail. I tried looking up her Parent’s names. I have also looked through thousands of death certificates for the area they lived in (Cambridge, Massachusetts) between the years 1921 and 1924 with no results. I have hit a brick wall.

I appreciate any help and would be happy to provide additional details if it would help.

My GGfather was an M D. I would like to know where he went to school. I haven't been able to find out. Any ideas on how to learn that information? Thanks

I'll see if I can post the screenshots of the MyTrueAncestry breakdown(worked well for my Dad's Wife(whose raw DNA was from Ancestry), but not for him & I(both of ours were from MyHeritage) in terms of genetic distance; otherwise, it worked fine; still a wee bit disappointed that MyTrueAncestry did not reach out to me, even after I tried to email them multiple times regarding this issue)

I want to preface that, over the years, MyTrueAncestry has provided me a lot of info regarding my Ancestry that I would not have known otherwise; however, this is the one time where I felt like they could have done much better, particularly since I have spent well over $600-$800 with them lol(I know it's quite "a bit of change" but it was worth it); it seems I cannot post images on this post for whatever reason; however, I'll write down the root breakdown analysis for my Dad's Wife, my Dad, & I:

Your closest Ancient populations with Focus on Continental Celts

Dad's Wife:

Anglo Saxon + Frank (2.105)
Frank + Celt (3.78)
Frank + Celtic Parisi (3.886)
Frank + Celtic Cantiaci (4.415)
Celt + Scordisci (4.52)
Celt + Belgae (5.389)
Frank + Volcae (5.405)
Celt + Cenomani (5.409)
Anglo Saxon + Gaul (5.658)
Anglo Saxon + Sequani (5.88)
Anglo Saxon + Scordisci (5.989)
Anglo Saxon + Belgae (5.996)
Frank + Belgae (6.078)
Anglo Saxon + Celtic Cantiaci (6.094)
Celtic Parisi + Sequani (6.133)
Celtic Cantiaci + Celt (6.135)
Anglo Saxon + Celt (6.168)
Celt + Nemetes (6.221)
Celtic Parisi + Cenomani (6.416)
Celt + Sequani (6.436)
Anglo Saxon + Cenomani (6.558)
Celtic Parisi + Scordisci (6.708)
Celtic Parisi + Belgae (6.805)
Anglo Saxon + Nemetes (6.847)
Celt + Gaul (6.861)
Celtic Cantiaci (6.862)
Anglo Saxon + Celtic Parisi (6.88)
Celt + Celtic Parisi (7.055)
Frank (7.099)
Celtic Cantiaci + Belgae (7.118)
Celtic Parisi + Gaul (7.221)
Celtic Parisi + Nemetes (7.235)
Celtic Cantiaci + Gaul (7.268)
Celt + Volcae (7.31)
Celt (7.33)
Anglo Saxon (7.333)
Anglo Saxon + Volcae (7.414)
Frank + Sequani (7.566)
Celtic Parisi (7.691)
Frank + Celtiberian (7.893)
Celtic Cantiaci + Nemetes (8.174)
Anglo Saxon + Celtiberian (8.312)
Celtic Cantiaci + Scordisci (8.344)
Frank + Nemetes (8.416)
Gaul + Volcae (8.499)
Celtic Cantiaci + Sequani (8.901)
Celtic Parisi + Volcae (8.968)
Frank + Cenomani (9.179)
Celt + Celtiberian (9.287)
Belgae + Gaul (9.341)
Celtic Cantiaci + Cenomani (9.641)
Frank + Gaul (10.2)
Belgae + Volcae (10.29)
Celtic Cantiaci + Volcae (10.33)
Belgae + Nemetes (10.53)
Volcae + Scordisci (10.72)
Gaul + Celtiberian (11.02)
Celtic Parisi + Celtiberian (11.11)
Belgae + Sequani (11.12)
Frank + Scordisci (11.16)
Nemetes + Volcae (11.37)
Nemetes + Gaul (11.69)
Gaul + Sequani (11.75)
Belgae + Scordisci (11.85)
Belgae + Cenomani (12.19)
Belgae (12.35)
Celtic Cantiaci + Celtiberian (12.68)
Nemetes + Sequani (12.71)
Sequani + Volcae (13.01)
Belgae + Celtiberian (13.11)
Nemetes (13.19)
Cenomani + Volcae (13.3)
Nemetes + Scordisci (13.37)
Gaul + Cenomani (13.39)
Celtiberian + Scordisci (13.72)
Sequani (13.94)
Nemetes + Cenomani (13.95)
Nemetes + Celtiberian (14.22)
Sequani + Scordisci (14.23)
Gaul (14.93)
Cenomani + Sequani (15.25)
Gaul + Scordisci (15.51)
Celtiberian + Sequani (15.87)
Cenomani + Scordisci (16.25)
Cenomani + Celtiberian (16.26)
Volcae (16.87)
Cenomani (17.06)
Scordisci (17.5)
Celtiberian + Volcae (19.57)

Dad:

Abantes + Amerindian(Indigenous people of North America+) (18.36)

Me:

Illyrian + Roman Hispania (17.65)
Illyrian (18.11)
Roman Hispania (19.65)
Thuringii (19.91)
Roman (19.95)

I'm trying to figure out the name of my enslaved 4th great-grandmother's enslaver and her maiden name.
Her name was Desire Lewis, nicknamed "Dizzie Lewis", born in 1798 in Warren County, Georgia and died in 1870 in Russell County, Alabama.

Her children's father (since there is no marriage record) was Henry Lewis (1797-1870). Henry's father was John Augustine Lewis (1777-1824).

Their children were: Henry Lewis Jr. (1833-); Albert Lewis (1830-); and Rachel Lewis (1840-1934).