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My grandmother who was full blooded German passed away back in 2005. I have been working on my family tree and I know her mother and father's name and i know she has a brother. Aside from that I have no other information. I have no birth dates, or death dates if they are no longer with us. Could you please help me?
Her mother's name (Maiden) is Hledwig Jung
Father's name is Andreas Dilly
brother's name is Gayhardt Dilly
What about your grandmother? What is her name and do you at least know an approximate birth year for her? Do you know where she was born? What date did she die?
You need to find out where your grandmother was born (might have been written in her obit). Or you can just guess. You can then get her birth certificate from the county in which she was born. Her birth certificate will have her mother and father's names on it. Then you're going to look up the census records for that location (census records are done every 10 years. If she was born in 1925 you'd need to look at both the 1920 and 1930 census records). You can look up census records online. Websites like Ancestry.com are hugely helpful. If you can't afford a whole year you could just pay for 1 month and then cancel. Hopefully you'll find them in the census records. The census records will record where her parents were from, then you can track down their marriage and death records (which will have info on their births) the same way. Ancestry.com will provide you with "suggestions" - people who seem to fit in your family tree based on other member's information. Sometimes their suggestions are correct and sometimes they are not, so it's best to have names, birth dates, death dates, marriage dates to cross reference. The more information you can get on your own, the better.
Talking to other family members is also a fantastic resource. If you have extended family it's worth it to make that awkward phone call. Make some small talk then explain you're doing genealogy research and ask your questions.
When your grandmother passed away, were you there to help go through her things? If not, do you know who did? The reason I ask is when someone passes away, they leave behind their life in photos and documents. That's the time to see what she held dear. I bet she had pictures of her parents, her husband, and other important people in her life.
You can look up her name on the Social Security Death Index. That will give you a place where she lived when she applied.
Do you have cousins? Aunts or uncles? Are there other descendants of hers that you can talk to, maybe someone that's older and would know more? IE: Older descendants know the stories or facts because they interacted with your grandmother longer. (My oldest cousin knows more about my grandparents than I do) It doesn't hurt to ask.
CassandraLogic, You just have to be logical. You have clues you may not realize you have.
You know she was almost certainly born after 1905. You know your grandmother probably was between the ages of 15 and 45 when she gave birth to her children. If you know the birth date of your parent and your parent's siblings, then you can narrow down your grandmother's date of birth further.
If your grandmother was very elderly when she died, then it's possible your great grandparents were born prior to 1870. That's an important date because Germany didn't exist as a country prior to 1870.
You don't say if your grandmother ever resided in the U.S. or lived her entire life in Germany. You also don't say how you know her date of death or if you have any photos of her (photos can be great clues). You also don't say if you know your grandmother's name, or if you know anything about your grandfather. All that information can provide clues.
My grandmother who was full blooded German passed away back in 2005. I have been working on my family tree and I know her mother and father's name and i know she has a brother. Aside from that I have no other information. I have no birth dates, or death dates if they are no longer with us. Could you please help me?
Her mother's name (Maiden) is Hledwig Jung
Father's name is Andreas Dilly
brother's name is Gayhardt Dilly
Could this be your Andreas DILLY arriving in NY in 1882? Info found at www.familysearch.org
Name Andreas Dilly
Event Type Immigration
Event Date 1882
Event Place New York City, New York, United States
Gender Male
Age 17
Birth Year (Estimated) 1865
Birthplace Prussia Ship Name Donan
Last edited by daliowa; 05-12-2017 at 09:09 PM..
Reason: edit
I'd be really cautious with information from Family Search. For example my husband's people came from Wales on the rail road to Utah. As dedicated Mormons everyone recorded their family records, submitting the same information, so much overlapping information. It's a mess trying to untangle it.
If you find something on Family Search, go further and find that tip from another source. See if everything lines up. Classes I've taken always stress go to the original sources when you can and never trust another's research. I can't tell you how many times I've found mistakes.
I'd be really cautious with information from Family Search. For example my husband's people came from Wales on the rail road to Utah. As dedicated Mormons everyone recorded their family records, submitting the same information, so much overlapping information. It's a mess trying to untangle it.
If you find something on Family Search, go further and find that tip from another source. See if everything lines up. Classes I've taken always stress go to the original sources when you can and never trust another's research. I can't tell you how many times I've found mistakes.
FamilySearch is much more than the trees submitted by users. They have a very large records database of original documents and sources, and it's all free.
FamilySearch is much more than the trees submitted by users. They have a very large records database of original documents and sources, and it's all free.
I haven't been able to find Andreas DILLY on any other records (yet!)
Does the OP know if Andreas used another first name in the U.S.?
Andrew? Andre? Something else?
Where did he settle after arriving in the port of NY?
I checked NYC marriage records, and did not find him.
Hopefully the OP comes back.
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