Brick Walls we all have them

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Comment by Lewis Stein on July 22, 2009 at 8:41am

My most important brick wall concerns my maternal grandfather, Philip Silverberg. I think that he was from Smila in the Ukraine, that he was an orphan and that he and a friend began to walk out of Russia when he was eight years old. He arrived in the US when he was about seventeen. He never talked about his childhood, and when I would ask him where he was born, his stock answer was "I was born when I came to America." He once told me that he and his friend worked on a cattle boat. I have never been able to find any evidence of his entry and I kind of think that maybe they jumped ship at some point. He first appears in the 1900 census for Easton, PA which indicates that he had applied for naturalization. The 1920 census for Midland, PA indicates he arrived in the US in 1892 and that he was naturalized in 1900, but I can't find any record.
I know that his friend wound up in Perth Amboy, NJ and I have spoken to his family members. They know about everyone else in the family, except him. Again no record of his entry
I must be missing something.

Comment by Georgie Trammell on July 21, 2009 at 8:35pm

My first brickwall ( about 30 years ago) was My Mother's Grandfather, he had committed suicide and we couldn't find where he was buried. Her father had talked about his parents, but only when his mother wasn't around. I took a chance and wrote to the historical society in El Dorado Co. CA. The had a picture of my Grandfather and most of his siblings, it was a school picture. There was other information that the woman who wrote to me would not have sent to me, if I had not stated that my Great Grandfather committed suicide. Because I mentioned that she sent me a copy of the newspaper report of his death. We still could not find where he was buried, being Catholic we knew it wasn't in a Catholic Cemetery like the rest of her family. For years we tried to find him, because Mom wanted him to have a headstone. Finally a couple years ago I got an e-mail from someone at the history society again and although his grave is unmarked they are almost positive of the cemetery he was buried near Pollick Pines. I have been there and have found the place that he is believed to be buried. I had a "conversation" with him about Rosie his Granddaughter and how hard she tried to find him. I left feeling like I had complete the search that Mom and I had started so many years before. I even took yellow Roses with me, because she had said she wanted to leave yellow roses on his grave. Mybrick wall I am working on is my Father's Great-Great Grandma. I have a lot of information on her family and husband, but have not been able to locate her parents. She was Susanna/Susan McGill B: 1814 Greencastle, Putnam Co., IN. Married Solomon Shepherd in 1835 in Greencastle and died in 1883 in Albia, Monroe Co. Iowa. The death index in the Courthouse indicats that she died from an over does of opum.(well that is the polite way of putting it-that is not actually what is printed in the index) She may have had a sister Elizabeth McGill who married one of Solomon Shepherds Brothers. I have nothing else and have never been able to get a copy of her death certificate. I would like to know who her parents were. The thing that is so frustrating is that 4 other lines of my family can be traced back to the mid 1600 in the US.

Comment by Jeanette Seaborn on July 21, 2009 at 4:39pm

I've been researching my family tree for about 5 years now. My paternal line was a bit sparse in information - my dad's parents were born in England. A family story was that we couldn't trace the family tree back past WWII, since it was assumed that the records were destroyed during the Blitz.
Using the website ancestry.com, I not only traced my family back to well before WWII, but I managed to break through a major brick wall. My paternal great-grandmother, Roseanna Gaskin Seaborn, didn't speak to her children or grandchildren about her family, so it was a major mystery. I located the number for her marriage certificate to my great-grandfather Thomas Crisp Seaborn, and I ordered the certificate from the General Records Office. Imagine my pleasant surprise when the certificate not only listed her father's profession (hawker), but his name, William Gaskin, as well! I used that information to trace him back to the 1851 British census.
I still have a few brick walls to break through on my dad's line. The greatest ones at this point concern my grandfather's sisters, Lily and Jane Seaborn. I managed to track both Lily and Jane to their arrival in Canada in February 1913 (along with their mother and most of their siblings).
Lily married Frank Christie in 1917, and emigrated to the United States in 1918. I lost track of her after that. She died before 1973. There are stories about her being an actress, an opera singer, or a Rockette.
I have no idea about Jane after her arrival in 1913.

Comment by Caren on July 21, 2009 at 10:15am

For the longest time I've had a brick wall on my dad's side regarding the immigration of my great Grandfather, Robert Nestor Lehto (born Robert Nestor Osterlund). Turns out I had been looking in the wrong country (altho it also doesn't help that the Canadian records really didn't start showing up online till like a year ago) and the wrong year. Thanks to awesome people on Genealogy Wise I've found where Robert Nestor came to America, the marriage record of him and his first wife, when his brother came to America (oddly the year I was told Robert came over), and when his parents came over. Even found his mother's name and where she's burried (SURPRISE! The family grave yard! Fun! :P). Now my only issue is Robert Nestor's wives.

I've been told that his first wife Anna Lindstrom (1892 - 1930) came in thru Boston. I just don't have access to the records. All I know is that her mother's name is Rosa and father's name is Edward. This is from the 1913 marriage record of Robert and Anna. They married in Detroit and Robert's surname is listed as Lehta instead of Lehto (his o did kinda look like an A.)

His 2nd wife has completly baffled me. All I know is that her name is Aino E. No clue what the surname is. Just that it starts with an E. This is what is says on her grave stone. Aino E Lehto. Her nickname is Rickas Aiti (Dear Mother) and this is what my dad knew her by. Aino was born in 1894 possably in Finland...I dunno... and died in 1970 in NY (she's burried next to Robert and Anna...awkward!). The earliest record I've found of her is a news paper clipping from 1946. I think this is when Robert and Aino got married as the clipping states their land ownership is going from just being in Robert's name to being in both their names.

Also some mysteries. On the ship manifest Robert Nestor is listed as being in the hospital.. I wonder what happened to him on the voyage over? Hmm. Also for the longest time I've been told that Robert's father, Frans Nestor Osterlund, came to America briefly and then left. I believe I discovered why I just don't know what happened to him after this. Frans and his wife, Edla Aurora, came to America from Finland in 1917. Edla died in 1919. Frans is a complete mystery after this. It's believed he went back to Finland and to me it would make sense that he left after the death of his wife.

Comment by Georgie Trammell on July 20, 2009 at 9:20pm

I have been reasearching for over 35 years and have never been able to find much on my GGGM Susanna/Susan(found her as both) McGill-Shepherd. She was born in 1814 in VA and died in late 1800's in Albia Monroe Co., IA. I have picture of her headstone. I beleive she had a Sister Elizabeth that married Charles Shepherd brother of Susanna husband Soloman Shepherd, bu have never found proof of suspicions. Found Susanna listed in the Death Index in Albia Courthouse, but not able to find a death certificate. Cannot find any information on her father or mother.

Comment by Jo Kotylak on July 20, 2009 at 8:31pm

My Brick wall is my father Bazylis Kotylak, born 1923 in what WAS Horodiatyczi Ukraine, now known as Radoszyce Poland. His parents were Mikhail and Maria nee Kuna. His family name is maybe also spelled Kadylak or a version thereof. Trouble is the Nazi's went through took who they wanted, killed the rest destroyed a lot of the village. He never knew if his family survived the war. I don't either. Where would YOU start

Comment by Carmel M Reynen on July 20, 2009 at 9:21am

what years are we talking about, if he was married in Victoria I could look it up but you would need to purchase a marriage certificate to get his parents names. $17.50 to download on line

Comment by Sandra L. Baird on July 20, 2009 at 7:56am

Hi Carmel,
He did get married here twice. I don't have all the information about that. I do have the obit of his first wife and the marriage record of his second wife. Neither says anything about parents.
Sandy

Comment by Sandra L. Baird on July 20, 2009 at 7:48am

Hi Kate,
The name on his death certificate is Lorenzo Bryan. I have his obit and his marriage information with his second wife.
Sandra

Comment by Carmel M Reynen on July 20, 2009 at 3:28am

where did he get married, if it was in Vic his parents should be listed on the marriage certificate

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