I don't know anything about my grandfather. how do i find him?

Question

my mom said he met her mother while he working on the railroad in jacksonville florida back in 1941. he might be from england. he also lived in texas and he's spanish/indian.

Answer 1

There aren't many Spanish-Indians from England. Once you find a name you can look in some of the immigration records. Ancestry just got a pile of them.

Your mother's birth certificate should have his name, birth state and age at the time. That would be a first step.

Answer 2

As he was alive in the recent past there is a good chance that there are relatives of yours who knew him. I'd start by asking any and all of your cousins, aunts, uncles etc. Someone is bound to have the information you are looking for. This is the preferred method as you will often get more personal information than just dates and places.

If that isn't an option, then I'd start by seeing what information is located at http://www.familysearch.com , they have a bunch of information on people and could at least get you a birth and death dates, as well as parents info.

Posting your questions on genealogical message boards  like http://genforum.genealogy.com/  and http://boards.ancestry.com/ could help you meet up with people who may have some information.

I would highly recommend contacting genealogical societies in the areas that you think he may have lived. Those societies are experts in locating people in their areas and their help can be invaluable. You can find them by searching on Cyndi's List: http://www.cyndislist.com

Railroad companies were good about record keeping so I would also contact them and seeing what information they may be able to provide.

Another place to look is local newspaper archives. Many libraries will search their archives for a nominal fee to find any information.

Good luck!