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My mom got knocked up when she was 18 and had to give it up out of Catholic shame a la Magdalene. She went to central Pennsylvania to deliver it. I have a half-brother somewhere. I want to find him. How?

FourthBase » 04 Apr 2014 17:12 wrote:My mom got knocked up when she was 18 and had to give it up out of Catholic shame a la Magdalene. She went to central Pennsylvania to deliver it. I have a half-brother somewhere. I want to find him. How?

BABY BUMP ... I too want to know.

My Dad knocked up another girl before my Mom and this older half-brother was given up for adoption in San Antonio.

I often wonder if he is still alive, if he knows he's adopted, if he knows he has a younger brother.

EDIT: This would be circa 1969/1970 for me. Good luck FourthBase!

Same to you elfismiles!

There are a number of ways. I have done this research for people several times. You need to look between the cracks. If I had a name or two and an address or two I might be of assistance. From there it cascades into more of a meta-effort which includes meta-cross-checking to make sure you got it right.

Just as a ballpark figure to start things we need names and possibly hospital. '58 is on the cusp of no one having birth certificates and having them. Tis true.

82_28 » Fri Apr 04, 2014 10:08 pm wrote:There are a number of ways. I have done this research for people several times. You need to look between the cracks. If I had a name or two and an address or two I might be of assistance. From there it cascades into more of a meta-effort which includes meta-cross-checking to make sure you got it right.

Just as a ballpark figure to start things we need names and possibly hospital. '58 is on the cusp of no one having birth certificates and having them. Tis true.

This is for the original poster:

This does get into the same techniques as genealogy, which it actually is. If there's a birth certificate under the original name, you may be in luck, even in Penna, which has some pretty arcane laws as to who can obtain a copy. As a half-brother, you would probably be considered a blood relative. I'm not positive of the details of the Penna law. But, assuming you know the original name, there may be a trail via legal name change: x y to x z.

This is for the quoted poster:

"No one having birth certificates," in Pennsylvania in 1958? Huh? That's just ridiculous. Perhaps you are thinking of 1858? I have my mother's birth certificate from 1914 and my father's from 1916 in Philadelphia, as well as my mother's name change from Fanny to Fay.

This is to everyone on this thread:

In genealogy it's not about starting with some kind of overall plan, it's about following the clues wherever they take you. Start with a good genealogy program. The Legacy free version is good. And just plug in everything you know. Sometimes just adding a fact somewhere will spark an idea about a connection. And you may not be able to do this all online. Think History Detectives. In genealogy, you will almost certainly have to spend some money. Why do you think rich people get into this? Would Elvis have known he was descended from Abraham Lincoln if he couldn't afford to have someone do the research? Even doing it yourself, you may have to spend a few bucks.

And keep in mind, the person you are looking for may be looking for you, so, despite all the idiots who think they still have something called "privacy," PUT YOUR INFO ONLINE! I did this for several years until my distant relatives had a conniption, and I got all kinds of interesting info, including an email from a relative who was half Jewish and half Chinese.

And finally, the person you are looking for may also be doing genealogy--it's the "thing" now--so the more you know the more points of intersection you will have with them. If you know that your great-grandfather was Rufus T. Pickins (b. 1870) of Detroit, Michigan, and they know that their ggf had similar data, there is a better chance you will make a connection, especially online.

Balto, give that scenario a rest before you do more damage. By 1958 it was perfectly normal to not have a BC. While it was normal to HAVE ONE. Like I said, the year was on the CUSP of having one and not having one. I am not better than you and don't pretend to be, however, you obviously do not understand the dynamics of history and how they apply to eras in which we have been given our "contexts". MY GRANNY, still alive and in PA, still does not know what year she was born. She has never known her own damn age because she was born in the hills, yo. Here in WA, in 1958 you could have been born five miles north from where I am now, out at sea on a boat, wherever. Just BCs were not compulsory. It's stupid to argue about that assertion. I admit, most people were "certified", but it was on the cusp of growing up in the woods and living urban. Urban meaning "modern". Modern meaning having a birth certificate.

Oh and Balto, bro, no it's more intricate than that. I don't know how many times you've done it yourself, but I have tracked down motherfuckers by meta-searching and then taking names, addresses, different dates, sometimes decades later in order to piece together a story. I hate being a passive aggressive dick, but clearly I must bow in your direction for what I presume you have never done yet are an expert. I most certainly am not an expert, but I have found very interesting shit by taking less frequently traveled trails. Take the floor, Balto.