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I'd like to know who my real maternal grandfather was. For sure it wasn't my grandmother's husband, because he was a WWI POW for 15 months and she wasn't pregnant when he left to go overseas. The best theory I have is that he was an Irish family friend of my grandmother's, because his name was initially put on my mother's birth certificate as her middle name, but later removed. My so-called "grandfather" always hated my Mom and mistreated her horribly. However, if it was the Irish neighbor, then my Mom was 100% Irish, as both her grandparents came over from Ireland.
My father's paternal grandfather. DNA testing has narrowed it down to one of four brothers. So, I've been able to research the farther-back history of that family line, but I'd like to know who my bio great-grandfather was. Also of interest, but I don't know if this information is anywhere on this side of the grave, are the circumstances under which my 17-year old grandmother became pregnant but ended up marrying somebody else, 4 years later. The man she married is named on the birth certificate. Did he think he was the father? Why didn't they get married until 4 years later? Did the real father know that he had a child? I knew my great-grandmother well and it's so odd to think of her as a pregnant teenager, when my image is of a stereotypical cooking, sewing, fussing over babies, grandmother.
My paternal great-grandfather's genetic parents...he grew up in St. John, New Brunswick in Canada though he was probably born in NY state. On all known documents he lists his parents names though these are known to be his grandparents (we are actually not even entirely sure if these are his maternal or paternal!)...he was of questionable parentage, according to a couple of well-informed sources. Available records demonstrate that as his 'parents' (grandparents) would have been past 50 years old when he was born in 1878.
My great-grandfather went to work for a doctor in Boston in the 1890s, where he finished school. This doctor, very well regarded in the city, looked A LOT like him.
Eventually, my grt-grandfather was given directorship of the institution he worked for, apparently with the great assistance of this doctor, who my grandfather is named for.
I have long wondered if this doctor was in fact my great grandfather's father.
Unfortunately, DNA has not shown any light on this issue, except for ruling out a couple of old theories. As for the doctor, as for as I am aware, no living descendants exist with the last dying off in 2005 at advanced age. Even some other members of this family bare a resemblance to mine, so I have to wonder...
My mystery is much more recent than most of those here but still unlikely to be solved.
The spelling of my last name was drastically changed sometime in the early 1900’s to appear French. To his grave, my grandfather swore it was changed by his father before he was born. After my grandfather died I found a census record that listed him at 8 years old with the original Armenian spelling. My aunt said that she had found that record years prior and my grandfather explained it away as an aunt of his answering the door when the census people had come. According to him, she gave the original spelling because she never changed it for herself.
This all sounds settled but my father and another uncle swear that my grandfather told them that he changed it when he enlisted in the Navy during WWII. My father claims to clearly recall my grandfather saying that it was easy to do then because they needed sailors and going forward after the war he just used the new name. My grandfather was a tough man and a genius in an immigrant family that he may have been embarrassed by. He went on to become a very successful attorney, so my father’s recollection has some merit for sure.
Awhile back I was committed to changing it back to the original spelling, but between the fact that my last name derives from 1/8th of my bloodline and my children being born by that point, I let it go. It would still be nice to known the truth once and for all.
The only mystery so far for me doesn't involve me, it involves my 2nd cousin on my maternal side who never knew his father was illegitimate until he met me. He eventually found his fathers birth certificate in Hungary but of course the fathers name is blank. He and his kids carry our great grandfathers last name but an Americanized version. I haven't found where his father Americanized it yet. I don't recall if I found his military records to see. I know it is on his marriage license, so that is documented for sure. I wonder which version was he in the military with.
My cousin has done 'DNA everywhere plus his Y-DNA, no leads. It looks like his grandfathers family didn't immigrate here.
I figure his grandmother worked as a servant in the big city, could be she got pregnant by someone at where ever she worked or someone she met while working.
I've only verified all his matches at ancestry. Getting the blank birth certificate really messed with his head. He stopped his quest. Once he's ready I'll help him on the other sites like I did at ancestry. I know there are no close matches he doesn't recognize.
Another one would be why did my 2nd MIL's first husband change his name from a very Polish one to an American one when he married her in the 40's. He's in the military under his Polish name but came home with the American one. I know because of the marriage license and story from MIL that she told my SIL, it's her father. She never said they got married before she immigrated. I found her travel papers. MIL was very secretive about her life in Germany.
My great-great-great-grandfather immigrated from Germany to America in 1854 with a son aged about 24 and two daughters: Philipinna who was 19 and Elizabeth who was about two years old.
For several years we thought that Elizabeth was possibly Philipinna's mother and not her baby sister, and that the family left Germany because Philipinna was an unmarried mother. Eventually we learned that their mother Maria (my g-g-g-grandmother) died in childbirth or soon after.
We know nothing more than her first name and approximately when she died. So everything else about Maria is a mystery. But at least we know that daughter Elizabeth was legitimate at birth, and she went on to have a daughter of her own, my great-grandmother also named Philippina.
There are a few mysteries on both sides of the family, but to choose just one .... I'm going with something which involves my mom's stepmother's immediate family. ”Grandma Valerie” was the oldest of three children, and this particular mystery involves her sister.
I'll refer to the sister as Francine, and my understanding is that when she was young, she had been engaged. But something happened to her fiancée, Francine was devastated by his death, and she either actively chose not to get into a serious relationship again, or that was just how her life ended up working out.
The mystery part comes in because I have never heard anything else about Francine's fiancée .... such as his name, where and how they met, what their hoped-for life plans might have been, or how he died. (I've also never even seen a picture of him) What little I do know, I've heard from my mom, and she didn't have any info other than she thinks he was serving in the military and was killed in battle.
The mystery part comes in because I have never heard anything else about Francine's fiancée .... such as his name, where and how they met, what their hoped-for life plans might have been, or how he died.
This reminds me of a mystery solved -- My aunt was never married when I knew her and, growing up, I had assumed that was her story...period. But not so. She married a guy at the end of WW2, a soldier who was injured in a car wreck while in basic training. He was convalescing and was never shipped to the war theater. My soldier uncles and even my parents considered him to be malingering and were unkind to such a degree that the marriage failed (this was before I was born). Later on, I knew more about her story and that she had been married and I suspected that the guy was not liked but never knew why. Many years later, when my aunt died, we cousins were cleaning out her house and found a photo album and scrapbook detailing their short life together and it was heartbreaking. She left a letter that showed how bitter she was and that she always loved the guy and resented how he was treated and how the marriage was sabotaged by her siblings. That changed my perspective of her and the other members of the family and the time and context of the war years. She was always the kindest of "spinster" aunts to us nephews and nieces and would make an effort to spend special time with each one. In the end, she was an artist and the most interesting of relatives and had many experiences and different life choices. She knew Tennessee Williams, for example, and had some other interesting friends. That casual nonconformance might have also contributed to the family friction. She and my mom were only a year apart and always had a mild sibling rivalry thing going that lasted 85 years. We don't always recognize family dynamics when we are emersed in it.
I'm an American Descendent of Slavery with a Scottish last name. My DNA results report 20% Scottish, the only European admixture (all else is African). Family story is that a great-great-grandfather Kirk actually married a free black woman and legally gave her his name, but the farthest back I've found in record was a great-grandfather listed in the census as "mulatto." That seems to verify the old family story.
I'd like to find a link to the white man named "Kirk" and any descendants on the white side of the tree.
I'm an American Descendent of Slavery with a Scottish last name. My DNA results report 20% Scottish, the only European admixture (all else is African). Family story is that a great-great-grandfather Kirk actually married a free black woman and legally gave her his name, but the farthest back I've found in record was a great-grandfather listed in the census as "mulatto." That seems to verify the old family story.
I'd like to find a link to the white man named "Kirk" and any descendants on the white side of the tree.
No. But that wouldn't help unless someone in that branch had also done it, would it?
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