You reply-proofed your addy. Steven Stone wrote: > I've been going over what little there is of family records for my > great grandfather on my father's side, surname Fleckenstein. > > There are some family oral history records suggesting that Arthur Adam > came to Brooklyn in the late 1880s to replace his brother Joseph ? in > Brooklyn who had died and left his family without financial support. > > I've heard of this, and it was not uncommon for the times. > > It seems that RC church and legal documents (I have some of the > originals), call Arthur Adam, Adam Arthur. Same with my grandfather > born in 1901. > From observance in the records, it appears that the Church prefers to use the Saint-name first. A certain number of civil bureaucratics have an obsession about names as well. That's a NAP (Not A Problem). > Now here is where things get strange.. > > 1900 census lists great grandfather coming to USA in 1890 > 1910 census shows immigration in 1888 > 1902 naturalization documents says 1889 > 1918 obit quotes his wife as saying he lived in USA for 35 years, > making the date 1883. Also said he died in a hospital after a short > illness. Sure wish I knew which short illness it was. 1890 is probably the closest to accurate: it's close enough in time to the 1900 census to be less susceptible to mis-recall. 1889 on the naturalization ... well, count it back: he had to be resident in the US for X years before he could apply 1902-x = 1889. The obit -- 1918 was the 'flu epidemic; chances are high he died of influenze. 35 is nice a round number, chosen for mnenomic not necessarily strict accuracy (much as you might glance at a clock and announce that it's 10:15, when the nuclear clock says it's 10:13:59) > > Castle Garden has no hits for Adam or Arthur in the time frame but > potential hits for a John in the right time frame. > Germans had this _annoying_ habit of having 6 sons all named Johan/John : Johan Adam Arthur (called Adam), Johan Ludwig Adam (called Ludwig), Johan Georg Christian (called George), Johan Arthur Christian (called Arthur) ... but when the US paperwork gets done, Adam, Lewie, George and Art are _all_ John. It's the rare kid named Johan who actually gets CALLED Johan! Generally speaking, in those cases, it's spelt Johann or Johannes or Hans, though. > Both 1900 and 1910 census say his wife came to the USA in 1885, but > only plausible hit on Castle Garden web site suggests the date was > 1883. > She had 11 children, 6 survived. Close-enough to count > > A official birth certificate printed in 1931 for my grandfather who was > born in 1901 lists his name as Arthur Adam with fathers name Adam. > His original 1902 RC baptism certificate lists my grandfathers name as > Adam John ??? as does online database for Our Lady of Sorrows RC church > in Brooklyn. Let's assume, as a matter of "you gotta believe in something", that the Priest couldn't have been wrong quite that often. > > And I still have not found any hint of Joseph anywhere, anyplace... > I'd look really closely at those records for John. Pay for 'em if you have to, but you owe it to yourself to LOOK. > And I haven't gone nuts yet after working with this off and on for over > 10 years. > > Now I know why the professionals make the big bucks.. > > I guess they didn't worry about accuracy a hundred years ago... > or is there more to it.. There's more to it. Not that it comes out in a different place, mind, but there is more to it. (g) Cheryl

In article <EJWdne4ef9XO90DbnZ2dnUVZ_hOdnZ2d@rcn.net>, singhals@erols.com says... | Thanks very much.. All good information ! Steve