Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Genealogy
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 11-28-2010, 05:49 AM
 
Location: Black Hammock Island
4,620 posts, read 14,921,386 times
Reputation: 4620

Advertisements

STLCardsBlues1989 ... goodness what a mystery! Given the stricter codes of society back then, it seems so impossible for a couple who were together for so long not to have married; yet, of course, it is possible. How fascinating if that was the case! Think of all the ridicule (or worse) they would have endured.

Have you found any church records? I was wondering if perhaps they had been married in a church, but the marriage was never "properly" recorded civilly; thus in the eyes of the church they were married, but not in the eyes of the civil authorities?

What do you know about the mother? Could she possibly have been married briefly before and that marriage was never dissolved for whatever reason?

kevxu -- reuse of names through the generations can create such a confusing mess! But the silver lining is that sometimes (but certainly not always!) it does help to 'cement' a lineage. Very frustrating however since brothers had the tendencies to use the same names at the same time! STLCardsBlues1989 - apparently your ancestors didn't stick to the common names, so perhaps they were completely unconventional in many ways.

linicx -- I've often encountered the same thing, an "invisible" mother, something hard to understand in this day and age. In my 4th great grandfather's account book he refers to his children by name, but only refers to his wife as "Wife" and never by her name. Most church records of their childrens' births only mention him as if a mother didn't play a part in the birth.

Tallysmom -- I also encountered a similar situation, when the husband left to follow the work. A long distance relationship with visits home must have occurred since children were born during this time and eventually the whole family ended up back together. In the case of my great grandfather-in-law, it was a bit different. He left MA and went back to Rhode Island where they first married. I can't find him there with family, so returning "home" wasn't the reason why he left MA. My guess is that he was never happy during the 10+ years they were living in MA and wanted to go back to RI, but she was quite content in MA and had no desire to leave.

bjh and ArkansasSlim -- ah yes, diving into records and DNA genealogy can certainly expose some secretive skeletons in the closet.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 11-28-2010, 04:41 PM
bjh
 
59,746 posts, read 30,187,814 times
Reputation: 135564
Quote:
Originally Posted by STLCardsBlues1989 View Post
...I'm pretty sure they were protestant. So far I haven't found any Catholics on my family tree and all my living relatives are Protestant (mostly Pentecostal) ...
If anyone of non-Jewish European descent goes back far enough they will encounter Catholics. After all, that's the original Christian church.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-28-2010, 09:10 PM
 
Location: Southeast Missouri
5,812 posts, read 18,756,441 times
Reputation: 3383
True. I'm sure I have Catholics in my family if you go far enough back, but, from every record I can find, my more recent ancestors were Protestants. Some of my ancestors who originally came to this country were Protestant (one family was Quaker).
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-29-2010, 12:42 PM
 
Location: Stuck in NE GA right now
4,585 posts, read 12,329,354 times
Reputation: 6678
I have a similar mystery in my family. One of my gr grandfathers was born out of wedlock acording to his mother who would never name his father even on her death bed - no birth cert. Based on our dead end searches and my ethnology DNA testing the father was Native American. His sur name was a "gift" from a family friend. He was supposidly born in 1870 in Central GA, no record of him exists until 1900 when he was an adult and married. His mother disapears off the census records after 1860 and no trace is found of her until 1900. My gr grandfather's name was Charles Howard Rowell, his mother's name was Martha Ann (Mattie) Watkins/Wadkins, she was found living with her parents in Harris Co. GA on the 1860 census and then disapears.

Another problem I have with another branch on my father's side is the John Reed issue, my father's name and about every other generations name for over a century and we get lost in the 1700's in PA.

Genealogy can be rewarding but many times it can be hair-pulling. I have several branches that dead end in what appears to be Native Americans who aren't on or were prior to rolls and it is the only explanation for my high blood quantum of indian blood.

ORRRR it could be based on my very funky birth cert. that my father IS my father but my mother might not be. My father was well know for his extra affairs and my birth cert is very fishy. All is typed except a few facts date and time of birth and sex, filled out in different pen types like at the last min. and signed by a Doc that I can find nothing about. I was born in 1950 in the PNW and I could see doing some behind the door things when one parent is the real parent....not unheard of.

Anyway, good luck to everyone on their brickwalls and family mysteries.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-29-2010, 07:51 PM
bjh
 
59,746 posts, read 30,187,814 times
Reputation: 135564
^^
That's wild. Usually genealogists wonder from time to time about paternity not maternity.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-29-2010, 08:13 PM
bjh
 
59,746 posts, read 30,187,814 times
Reputation: 135564
Quote:
Originally Posted by STLCardsBlues1989 View Post
True. I'm sure I have Catholics in my family if you go far enough back, but, from every record I can find, my more recent ancestors were Protestants. Some of my ancestors who originally came to this country were Protestant (one family was Quaker).
We have Puritan, C of E, Baptists, Huegenots, Congregational - the Puritan church in America, some more recently Catholic, oh and did I mention Puritan. I've wondered if some of my ancestors would have cringed to know the religious mixing of their descendants.

"Can't we all just get along?" --Rodney King
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-29-2010, 09:25 PM
 
Location: Stuck in NE GA right now
4,585 posts, read 12,329,354 times
Reputation: 6678
Quote:
Originally Posted by bjh View Post
^^
That's wild. Usually genealogists wonder from time to time about paternity not maternity.
It's one of the "probables" I've had several pro genealogists look at it and they do agree it looks fishy and this is the one I got from the records clerk. It could be something or nothing.

No one ever saw my mother PG...she claimed it was because it was difficult and required bed rest. She had been married before for 5 years and never got pg soooo. We have old family albums filled with photos during that time frame but not a one of my mother when she was suposed to be pg. Whoooo knows. I have no idea how to trace this as it wouldn't be an adoption it would have been done with a wink and a nod from the doc.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-29-2010, 10:56 PM
 
Location: Southeast Missouri
5,812 posts, read 18,756,441 times
Reputation: 3383
Do you have DNA to test?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-29-2010, 11:18 PM
 
345 posts, read 472,561 times
Reputation: 237
Quote:
Originally Posted by linicx View Post
In my quest to discover who I am I've found all kinds of tid-bits and read hundreds of records. But probably one of the oddest was Thomas, the first son of the first Judge John, who according to what I can find - which isn't much- he died at age 33. John's second son was his namesake. The parents allegedly married in Europe whenThomas was 3-years old and the three sailed to the New World shortly thereafter. There is no record of the sailing, no record of their arriva and no record of the un-named mother yet both sons gaved their first daughters the same name - which was alledgedly the name of their mother. There ae at least 6 generations of man named John and Thomas, but nary another mention of the woman who would be their mother. It is one of those niggling puzzles that has always bothered me. There is not even a mention of the mother in the family bible.

Both sons married and had children. I traced the ancestry of their wives. I have gotten nowhere on the ancestry of the immigrant or his wife. I may never find the answer, but, I know I am not alone. This family has been looking for answers for at least 75 years. .

I believe passenger logs do not exist for first class.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-29-2010, 11:24 PM
 
345 posts, read 472,561 times
Reputation: 237
Quote:
Originally Posted by bjh View Post
If anyone of non-Jewish European descent goes back far enough they will encounter Catholics. After all, that's the original Christian church.


That's even true of those with Jewish European roots. After WWI travel was limited only to Jews visiting the Holy Land. Many European Cristians claimed to be Jews, traveled to the Holy Land, then emmigrated to America.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Genealogy
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top