Community Chat

[Linders Back]

On 1/29/2014 JustJazzmom said:

I found his name but not his sister; sister dropped completely off the radar from 1925 NY state census and was missing from the 1930 census. Its going to take some time.

This sounds like the plot of the book I just read. Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline.

Historical fiction but based on fact: orphan children in NYC were rounded up and sent to the Midwest to be adopted. Over 100,000 children from 1850 -1930's ended up in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and points west. Often older children were much in demand as farm hands and household helpers. Those records might be another place to look.

Here's one site:

http://www.childrensaidsociety.org/about/history/orphan-trains

[JustJazzmom]

I am familiar with the Orphan Train; she is just the right age for that to happen too (12). It's sad the way we treated children back then (parents hit on hard times and unable to care for their children and put them in orphanages for care).

[Burnsite]

Interesting thread--

I took a free trial several years ago (never started a file on my family or anything but printed out my findings for my 2 siblings who are into this stuff.

You don't have to leave a footprint there. I found out on a single visit (didn't have time for more) where my dad's and mother's family lived when they were both children, and that shipping records showed my father, as a 16 year old, taking annual trips back to his mother-ship (Nova Scotia, Canada) with one of my great grandmothers, whose quilts I still have.

I was sitting there with tears in my eyes, just reading this info. One can use this site without leaving info there; that was all I wanted to share. My sister, who is the big genealogy expert, already had the info available there, but I found those two new pieces of info. I saw one of the houses on Trulia com for sale recently and remembered the address. I have a picture of that house when it was new, with my dad and his two brothers reading the funny papers on the porch.

It's a lovely site. No need to post info there unless you want to.

[SuesCat]

Truly, i can't thank you all enough for each and every one of your replies. With confidence, i gave my dd the go-ahead to add my information to the tree. It will be interesting to see what develops!

Thanks to those who have been contributing to the Orphan Train topic. 'Such a touching subject with the possibilities of some of us having been directly involved with or affected by this.

Best of Luck to anyone pursuing information on their families and ancestry! Take care! ~ sue

[Luv2Decorate]

I thought I read that Ancestry.com will only search in the USA, does anybody know if that is true? I've looked at their website and it says that they can search US Census'. My Grand Parents came to the USA from Italy and my dad only had sister and she's is still alive, so I came to the conclusion that Ancestry wouldn't work for me. Am I right?

[Linders Back]

On 1/29/2014 JustJazzmom said:

I am familiar with the Orphan Train; she is just the right age for that to happen too (12). It's sad the way we treated children back then (parents hit on hard times and unable to care for their children and put them in orphanages for care).

My case was a bit different but still sad. My Grandmother and Aunt were placed in a Children's Asylum @ age 8 and 6 when their Mother ran off (I thought she had died until I found her info recently) and their father thought he couldn't care for them alone and left and joined the Navy. We had photos of them at that age and the girls looked so introspective and sad and we never knew why until we discovered this. They never spoke of it.

At least, they were treated well and the people they were placed for work with when they "aged out" remained important and influential parts of their lives for years.

Please keep me posted on your research if this thread dies out. I would love to know what you discover and would love to help you out anyway I can. Sometimes, if you just try the same search a month or two later. new info is out there. Even just putting a name and date into "Google" gets results.

[SuesCat]

Luv2Decorate ~ although i haven't tried it, it does appear that you can search countries outside the U.S. on Ancestry also.. i found this on their site.

[Linders Back]

On 1/29/2014 Linders Back said:

On 1/29/2014 JustJazzmom said:

I am familiar with the Orphan Train; she is just the right age for that to happen too (12). It's sad the way we treated children back then (parents hit on hard times and unable to care for their children and put them in orphanages for care).

My case was a bit different but still sad. My Grandmother and Aunt were placed in a Children's Asylum @ age 8 and 6 when their Mother ran off (I thought she had died until I found her info recently) and their father thought he couldn't care for them alone and left and joined the Navy. We had photos of them at that age and the girls looked so introspective and sad and we never knew why until we discovered this. They never spoke of it.

At least, they were treated well and the people they were placed for work with when they "aged out" remained important and influential parts of their lives for years.

Please keep me posted on your research if this thread dies out. I would love to know what you discover and would love to help you out anyway I can. Sometimes, if you just try the same search a month or two later. new info is out there. Even just putting a name and date into "Google" gets results.

Just found the photo of my Grandmother (on the left age 6) and Aunt (age 8) the year they were put into the "orphan asylum" . Little girls this age should be smiling. My Great Grandfather did have this picture taken so he could have it with him when he left them to join the Navy. They never did see their Mom again.

[redtabby]

On 1/29/2014 Luv2Decorate said:

I thought I read that Ancestry.com will only search in the USA, does anybody know if that is true? I've looked at their website and it says that they can search US Census'. My Grand Parents came to the USA from Italy and my dad only had sister and she's is still alive, so I came to the conclusion that Ancestry wouldn't work for me. Am I right?

They have two levels of membership, US and International. Some Italian records have been added recently, they are in Italian. You would need to start with your Aunt, asking her as many questions as she can answer - your grandparent's full names, birthdates, birthtown. Find out if she knows their parents names. Death certificates (from the state or county) may have birthplace and parent's names. Try a free intro membership to see if the names come up in any records searches. Do not look at other people's family trees at the start.

Ancestry has passenger manifests, if you are lucky place of origin is included, ideally the town or province. Ellis Island also has lots of records at http://ellisisland.org/. If your grandparents were naturalized go to the courthouse and get their naturalization records. Familysearch.org also has Italian records, most are not indexed yet. That site is free.

Don't forget to research your mother's line, too.

[brownie917]

On 1/26/2014 Kathleen said:

I've used Ancestry for years and years. Can't remember when I first joined. One of my Mormon cousins "baptized" some of our ancestors. I can't see the problem. They are his ancestors as well as mine.

Genealogical research is great fun. We've even added DNA testing.

For some Christians baptism is a very important sacred rite and ones particular denomination is the preferred practice. Some Christians don't do baptize untll an age of accountability while others have it done to their children shortly after birth. Until recently the Vatican didn't recognize non-Catholic baptism. .... So, given how serious baptism can be to some, it could be very upsetting that a cult (and the Church of Latterday Saints is indeed a cult -- just research Joseph Smith, Brigham Young and read the wacky Book of Mormon) would post-humously baptize otherwise baptized people....And, it should be obvious why Jews are deeply offended their ancestors are being posthumously baptized.