I am up against a brick wall and hope someone may be able to give me advice. I am trying to find current family so I can get answers to my mother's family. My mother (deceased) was estranged from her family, so I never knew anything about them except what she told me. Most of what she told me was not true. This I found out after her passing, when I decided to research her family. All I ever had was her birth date and place and her parent's names. From that,I found her parent's marriage certificate and it opened many doors. I have been able to get a great amount of information on her Dayton line (descendants of Ralph Dayton); some, but little information on her Dewar line, which led me to research the name Albertson; and a bit more on her Hein/Heine line, which led to research the Berger line. One thing my mother did tell me...there were two "step brothers". It turns out these were not "stepbrothers", they were her brothers. I have managed to find out the name,date of birth and death of one of her brothers by getting a copy of my grandfather's death certificate, where he signed. I found his military record and where he is buried. There are no obituaries: not for my grandfather, not for my uncle. I have contacted the funeral homes...no obituaries. The funeral director was not willing to give me any information. The cemetery was only willing to tell me where he died. Since it has been 50 yrs. since my uncle's birth and he is deceased, I can get a birth certificate (this is my next step). My dilemma...how can I get my uncle's death certificate? This would give me at least one more name to search (maybe...if his wife signed the death certificate, she may have remarried, since he died at age 45). I am not a direct descendant, so getting this is next to impossible. How does one find living family w/o hiring a private investigator? I would love to find my mother's youngest brother,if he is still alive and any of their children. They may be able to give me answers to family that I have no way of finding out. Is there any way I can get more recent information by doing my own research? I love doing my family research and I would love to connect with my lost family. Is there any hope? I appreciate your suggestions. Liz _________________________________________________________________ Making the world a better place one message at a time. http://www.imtalkathon.com/?source=EML_WLH_Talkathon_BetterPlace

Try genealogybank.com for a month. It is amazing what you can turn up on a family....I found a notice of a birthday party in a local society column for one of my relatives in NJ, lots of advertisements for an 18th century NYC business my family ran, even an ad for a runaway slave in NYC! I think you can still do a one month trial for $19.95 -- I tried it, cancelled it without problem and then joined again, now for a year, because I found so much information....For $19.95, you can skip lunch out for a day! Well worth the money. You might get lucky and find something on your living uncle's family. YOu can search nationwide, or just by state. Pamela MYER Sackett - Researching MEYER/MYER in NYC Lower Manhattan, COE in Orange Co., NY, DELAMATER/LAMATER in NYC. ________________________________ From: nyc-roots-bounces@rootsweb.com on behalf of Elizabeth Martinez-Gibson Sent: Sat 7/12/2008 11:58 AM To: nyc-roots@rootsweb.com; nynassau@rootsweb.com; nynewyor@rootsweb.com; nyqueens@rootsweb.com; nysuffol@rootsweb.com Subject: [NYC-ROOTS] Advice/Help I am up against a brick wall and hope someone may be able to give me advice. I am trying to find current family so I can get answers to my mother's family. My mother (deceased) was estranged from her family, so I never knew anything about them except what she told me. Most of what she told me was not true. This I found out after her passing, when I decided to research her family. All I ever had was her birth date and place and her parent's names. From that,I found her parent's marriage certificate and it opened many doors. I have been able to get a great amount of information on her Dayton line (descendants of Ralph Dayton); some, but little information on her Dewar line, which led me to research the name Albertson; and a bit more on her Hein/Heine line, which led to research the Berger line. One thing my mother did tell me...there were two "step brothers". It turns out these were not "stepbrothers", they were her brothers. I have managed to find out the name,date of birth and death of one of her brothers by getting a copy of my grandfather's death certificate, where he signed. I found his military record and where he is buried. There are no obituaries: not for my grandfather, not for my uncle. I have contacted the funeral homes...no obituaries. The funeral director was not willing to give me any information. The cemetery was only willing to tell me where he died. Since it has been 50 yrs. since my uncle's birth and he is deceased, I can get a birth certificate (this is my next step). My dilemma...how can I get my uncle's death certificate? This would give me at least one more name to search (maybe...if his wife signed the death certificate, she may have remarried, since he died at age 45). I am not a direct descendant, so getting this is next to impossible. How ! does one find living family w/o hiring a private investigator? I would love to find my mother's youngest brother,if he is still alive and any of their children. They may be able to give me answers to family that I have no way of finding out. Is there any way I can get more recent information by doing my own research? I love doing my family research and I would love to connect with my lost family. Is there any hope? I appreciate your suggestions. Liz _________________________________________________________________ Making the world a better place one message at a time. http://www.imtalkathon.com/?source=EML_WLH_Talkathon_BetterPlace ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to NYC-ROOTS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message