I am having trouble finding information on my grandpa's side of the family. His last name is way to common.

Question

His last name was Lawless. I know he came from Russell County Kentucky. I don't have the money to keep buying birth and death certificates. How can I find more information on my family for free? And how do I know it's the right people?

Answer 1

Julia, one trick is to always use most recent records.  For Paul, it has to be his death.  The social security death index has 2 Paul Lawless who connect to Kentucky.. one died in 2003, the other in 2004.  (there are 17 in all).  Hoping you have knowledge of where he is buried.. or the mortuary that handled his death. Both of these should be able to help you, for just a phone call.

The other end is knowing who were his siblings, especially if older??  Right now, I am trying to run a check in ancestry for you.. the above Pauls in the ssdi are not showing up in the 1930 census so far.. he MIGHT be showing there under a nickname or something like that. If I had names of siblings, I would be able to spot him, hopefully.

Sometimes you cannot avoid buying certs, especially early in research.  ONCE YOU GET TO PRIOR TO 1930, many historical records will open up.

Pour yourself some coffee, and make yourself at home here, too. As much as you can.. add details (as you did) when asking for anything.. it helps us to know what the best place to look is.

edit-

I had spotted Benjamin P in the census, and was wondering if this was the right guy.. if not for you, then for gray wolf

Name:   Benjamin P Lawless

Home in 1930: District 1, Russell, Kentucky

Age: 0

Estimated Birth Year: abt 1929

Relation to Head of House: Son

Father's Name: Harvey O

Mother's Name: Nara L

Occupation:

Education:

Military service:

Rent/home value:

Age at first marriage:

Parents' birthplace:



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Neighbors: View others on page

Household Members:

Name Age

Harvey O Lawless 33

Nara L Lawless 25

Hattie O Lawless 12

Joseph L Lawless 9

Rebecca Lawless 4 3/12

Benjamin P Lawless 11/12

John A Bell 19

Estena Bell 16



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Original

Record

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Answer 2

This journey is an ardous task but rewarding. I`m a beginner too.It takes a lot of patience and enthusiasm for this to work.

Have you tried interviewing your dad , uncles , oldest living person in your family??

There are a number of genealogical sites that allows you use their search engine for free, some free for seven days.

Try the web of  LDS and Tribalpages.

Google your grandfather`s name. Use every keyword that you can think of. You just don`t know but there could be someone  in your tree who is also out there tracing  their roots . This journey is like a puzzle.Someone out there is holding a piece that will complete you.Tribalpages was very useful to me. I sent messages to the Administrators of the sites. Most will ignore you and only a few will reply.

Learn about your ancestor  thru the people around you first.The littlest info is a great deal of information.That will enable you to identify if you are on the right track.

Enjoy your search as much as I did.

Answer 3

http://www.kyvitals.com

has alot of older death certs on there, they keep adding so keep a check on it.

http://www.familytreelegends.com/

has birth records for 191-1999

http://kyusa.addr.com/Lawless/index.html

http://genforum.genealogy.com/lawless/

http://resources.rootsweb.ancestry.com/U...

http://www.genealogylinks.net/usa/kentuc...

As for knowing if its the right people, thats up to the info you get from family members and doing alot of digging thru info you do find.  Ive been doing genealogy for yrs now and i still find myself confused about who is who and such.  Its a never ending lesson. Good Luck!

Answer 4

Post his name, approximate date of birth and whatever else you know about him (wife, kids, parents)...anything that we can use to distinguish him from everyone else with that name. There are some sharp people on this board who will be happy to help you find him.

Answer 5

Your not talking about Benjamen Paul Lawless are you?   Did he have  brothers named Joe and Jack?  Did he have a sister named Hattie?  Was his parents names Nora and Harvey?  If so, PLEASE e-mail me.    That is my grandpa.