Virtual Assistant Forums | Work from Home

StephanieP · #1 (**permalink**) 09-08-2009

Hi, I wasn't quite sure where to post this but I'm hoping that there are some genealogy experts out there that can give me some guidance.

My client is really curious about her grandmother's second husband and every once in a while she'll ask me to dig around online to see if I can find any information about him. I keep coming up with nill. Here's what she's given me to go on.

Full name
His father's first name and middle initial (same as his with different middle name)
He married her grandmother in 1938
Scarsdale, NY
He may have been involved with the theater
He may have lived in Hawaii or Cali at some point in time
He's anywhere from 10 to 15 years younger than her grandmother
They met on a cruise sometime between 1933 - 1938

And that's about it. Pretty vague stuff, I know. I've checked every avenue I can possibly think of without actually going to New York or paying for an online subscription to a genealogy site that I'll very rarely ever use. So, does anyone more familiar with this type of research have any other FREE ideas that I can try? Thanks so much.

Kathya · #2 (**permalink**) 09-08-2009

Wow...have you thought of offering PI (Private Investigator) to your service list?

Just kidding!

Honestly, if your client is really curious, you could offer to search Ancestry.com and have the client pay for the member fees to the site, if they're willing.

I don't know of any other service that you could try unless you pay for it. Now I'm curious to see if someone else on the forum comes up with an alternative...

Good luck and keep us posted on your progress!

StephanieP · #3 (**permalink**) 09-08-2009

Actually, yes I have... lol I love doing online searches especially with genealogy but don't do enough of it right now to add to my services (and justify the cost). I try to do as much "free" look-up on Ancestry.com as possible which isn't very much. I've thought about asking for her to pay for it but don't know if she's thatcurious or not...lol

I've found some pretty interesting info online for her before (people she never thought she'd find any info out about at all) and now she thinks I'm a miracle worker even though I insist that I'm not...lol One thing I did with this guy she's trying to find out about was post an inquiry (something you can actually do for free) but that was almost 2 years ago and I never got any bites. I'm beginning to think the guy was a con-artist from what she's said about him (apparently her family believes that he was a gold digger and took his grandmother for a lot of money, but there's no proof)...lol

Kathya · #4 (**permalink**) 09-08-2009

Oh now that's just sad (the guy being a con-artist). Seems like we all know a few out there, huh?

Well, good luck to you. You should never insist that you're NOT a miracle worker!

Your client will continue to think you are!

ChristinaVOS · #5 (**permalink**) 09-08-2009

Stephanie,
I did most of my family research online and free- I only paid for a short subscription to Ancestry once I wanted to consolidate it all.
Let me go back into my files and see what links I still have. I lost a lot of stuff when my comp got hit by virus last month but pretty sure I have some of it.

Also- if you have a library card- check your library's website- most of them give you access to some helpful sites.

~C

ChristinaVOS · #6 (**permalink**) 09-08-2009

OK- found the entire list of links I used for my family. Obviously, some don't pertain to the areas/names you are searching but may give you some ideas on where to go.

Shoot me over your email address by PM and I'll email it over.

~C

StephanieP · #7 (**permalink**) 09-08-2009

Thanks, Christina. I'll do that right now.

I was kind of just joking about the con-artist thing but did mention it to my client when I met with her this afternoon...lol That would be a cool little twist, don't ya think?

I almost kind of felt like she was a bit irritated with me when I said I couldn't find anything other than a name or two that may or may not be relevant and gave me the third degree about it... Did you check this? Did you check that? Yes, Jana, I did...lol Then I mentioned paying for Ancestry.com and she didn't want to pay a monthly fee (of course) so she backed off a bit...lol

Anyhow, my instructions were to keep plugging. My first reaction was

But then the "investigative" part of me was itching to jump to the challenge. I will overcome, I will overcome...lol

Bernice · #8 (**permalink**) 09-08-2009

Stephanie, you always have the most interesting things going on.

If you have a date of birth or even something close you can search the census records. In Canada they are free to use, not sure about the US but start with the Father of the husband and see if he had a son by that name. Depending on how common a name you may get pointed in a few directions but follow every lead until you have what you want.

I was able to find my fathers mother after he was given up for adoption 81 years later. That was quite the night.

PM me with details and I'll take a look for you too.

Cheers!!

JKVirtualOffice · #9 (**permalink**) 09-09-2009

Stephanie,
My mom does a lot of genealogy work and my uncle is pretty much an expert at it. I know that my mom uses this one site that I believe are records that have been kept by the Mormon church and are pretty comprehensive. You can also check army or military records for information. Her and my uncle often will go to a bigger city library to do some additional research. Librarians are always happy to help out with this stuff.

PM me and I can give you my mom's email address. She loves doing this stuff and would be happy to give you some pointers or directions to head off in.

StephanieP · #10 (**permalink**) 09-09-2009

Thanks for the tips, everyone, and to Christina for generously supplying me with her list of links. Kimberly, I may take you up on that one eventually but let me see what I can do on my own first (I'd feel a little strange emailing your mom

lol).

I'll be sure to keep y'all updated on how I'm coming along. This lady sure does have me research some odd things sometimes that don't even have anything to do with her family. For instance, her mother's diaries mentioned that she and my client's father (before they were married) went through a phase where they made a lot of hamburgers, so she had me research the history of hamburgers to find out when they became popular.

It's been fun, though, so I'm not complaining