Family history facts

[jane lawrence]

I don't know if anyone can learn from my mistakes, but I am
willing to give it a try.

Since my GF stated consistently during his life that he was born
in a specific US city, I spent over 3 years looking for records
of him and his family there. Birth records, death records,
census, city directories, cemetery lists, nearby towns, marriage
records, etc. Last week at NARA, I stumbled across his
naturalization papers. The records are definitely his. He did
not immigrate as a baby. He was naturalized as an adult.

I'm pleased to get to the bottom of this mystery at last. I
never understood how he avoided leaving any evidence whatsoever
of life before 40 years of age. Still, if he weren't dead, I'd
be tempted to strangle him.

jane

[Charles Sullivan]

Since your grandpa wasn't keeping notes at the time he was
born and had to rely on what his parents told him, he might
have been as surprised as anybody to later find out he was
an immigrant. Another possibility of course is that there
was no official record anywhere of his birth in the USA (as
you have determined), and so as to at least formalize his
citizenship he submitted to naturalization proceedings.

jane lawrence wrote in message <382CD614...@excite.com>...