I'm sending this to the Ramsey MnGenWeb list, to see if anyone has a connection to the Adelmann family Silvia is asking about. I don't know that Silvia is on our mailing list, so please direct your responses to her. Mary List mom ++++++++++++ Dear Silvia, Legal adoption in Minnesota is covered by a 100-year-old privacy law, with records sealed by the court. One needs to go through the court in question to have them opened, which many courts will do when there is a reason (health concerns, for example) for doing so. However, not everyone went to court, and many children were raised using the surname of a step-father without any legal proceedings at all. A couple of things you might be able to do to determine without having to ask the court: The Iron Range Research Center in Hibbing offers a free search of naturalization records for the state -- and will also provide copies for a fee. These are only for MN courts, and do not include records for other states, or for the Federal Courts located in MN. <http://www.ironrangeresearchcenter.org> If the birth father arrived in the U.S. before 1930, he should appear on that census. The census is available on-line through a couple of subscription services, notably Ancestry.com. I believe that gives information on when a person came to the U.S. That would give you an idea if the dates match up. He may not have come directly to MN. You can usually get helpful information from a death certificate. Sometimes they even have both parents and the name of the village or area where the person was born. There is usually a full date of death, and a date of birth. That too would provide a clue to identifying him as a person from the same area as the rest of your family. An index to the MN ones are on-line through the MN Historical Society site. They can provide a copy for a fee. < http://people.mnhs.org/dci/search.cfm?bhcp=1> I don't do research for people -- but we do have a swap page on our website <http://www.parkbooks.com/MnGenWeb/swap.html> Perhaps there is someone who would be able to do some work for you in exchange for some German research. Good luck on your search! Mary At 07:47 AM 8/24/2006, you wrote: >Hello, > >I hope you are able to help me. I am looking for >some informations of my grandfather. >My Father have been born as a illegitimate child >and was adopted later by his stepfather. >He never met his father and all old peoples are >dead now so there is nobody I can ask. >My father (his name is Horst Reinheimer, born in >1927) is now 79 years old and since >a few month he likes to know something about his father. >So, I do only have the name of this person and >estimate that he is born around 1900. >Name: Herman Adelhelm (maybe Hermann Adelhelm). He left the city where my >grandmother was living after the birth of my >father and my surching in Germany was >not successful. So I had a look in the Internet >and I found in a database the name >Herman Adelhelm (02.12.1907 - Dec. 1982), Minnesota, Ramsey. >Maybe this man was my grandfather. >Do you have any informations about this person? >Waiting for your answer and thanks in advance. > >Best regards > > Silvia Reinheimer > Global Automotive Division > Team Assistant Automotive Sensors > ______________________________________________________________ > > Tyco Electronics AMP GmbH > AMPèrestrasse 12 - 14 > 64625 Bensheim > Germany > > Phone: +49 (0) 6251 - 133 1120 > Fax: +49 (0) 6251 - 133 1799 > E-Mail: > <mailto:[email protected]>[email protected] > > Internet: > <http://www.tycoelectronics.com>http://www.tycoelectronics.com > http://www.tycoelectronics.com/automotive > ><http://www.tycoelectronicsmost.com>http://www.tycoelectronicsmost.com >