What resources could i use to find out the name of my great grandfather's dad?

Question

I tried to look at census records but they didn't say son and father and such. Can someone enlighten me to documents that would reveal this information. my great grandfather was born in 1894 if that helps. any help would be appreciated but preferably free documents.

Answer 1

There is a lot of free information out on the net for doing research.  One of the best things you can do to find free information is to use your favorite search engine and start with the surname and place you believe they lived.  Continue with additional information like dates or other combinations of words.  Don't forget to search for just the area you are looking for and "free" in your search  parameters. You could also add in different sorts of documents, like city directory, voter registration etc. another source of good free information is to join a genealogy group or two or three.  Yahoo does have a lot of groups that do genealogy.  Join several until you find one that fits with what you need.

Happy Hunting

Genzoli

founder California Genealogy Club

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/california...

Answer 2

Several states have death certificates on-line now. If your great-granfather died in one of these states you could view his death certificate free of charge. Here are links to a couple that have helped me. There may be more that I just haven't run across yet:

http://pilot.familysearch.org/recordsear...

http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources...

Answer 3

Have you located your gr-grandfather in 1900 census?  The head of household is always listed first.  It will not list the head of household as "father".  However, it should list your gr-grandfather and his relation to the head of household.  Does it say son?  Does it list a woman as head of household?  If so, then the father more than likely died(but not always, could have "left".  The census report always required a relationship to the head of household, so review that census again.

Do you know where your gr-grandfather is buried?  Check with the cemetery records, his father/mother may be buried in the same plot or close by.  Families usually are buried close to one another.

Check the Social Security Death Index(www.rootsweb.com) for your gr-grandfather.  If he is listed, spend the $27 to get his application, it should list his parents.  His death certificate should list his father as well.  If your gr-grandfather had an obit, it may list his parents and other siblings.

Keep in mind if you can't get anywhere with checking your gr-grandfather's records and you know any of his siblings, do the same searches on the siblings, the information should be the same(unless there were multiple marriages).

Good Luck!

Answer 4

These are some records that often list a person's parents:

* Birth Record

* Church Baptism Record

* Marriage Record - sometimes, depending on the time/place

* Death Certificate

* Social Security Application (if they lived in the U.S.)

* Obituary - sometimes

* Passport application

If you have an idea of where his father may have died, you can check the courthouse for a will or probate record that names your great-grandfather as a son or heir.

Land deeds can sometimes list relationships.  If his father gave or sold him a piece of land, it's possible that the deed might include some wording such as "25 acres to my son..."

Sometimes, try as you might, you just can't find a document that says outright "Joe Smith was his father."  In those cases, you just have to go with the circumstantial evidence (or, as genealogists like to say, preponderance of evidence).  If you can compile several sources that strongly suggest that Joe Smith was his father... and if you can show that no one else is a good candidate to be his father... then you can make a pretty strong case for the relationship.  

But hopefully, one of the sources above will confirm your great-great-grandfather's name.  Good luck!

Answer 5

Which census are you looking at?  Must be 1900.

Look for your grandfathers death certificate, which should show his father's name. If that fails, get our grandfather's siblings death certificates.  It's been long enough that you can get these with a small fee.

If he was alive in 1952 then he would have a social security application, which lists his parents. Go to the familysearch.org and look at their ss master death list and find his number.  Armed with this you can go to the ss website, find the form to print out, send $27 and wait 6 weeks. But that is a gold mine.

Good luck