I’ve been working on my tree on and off for five or six years now. I checked with Ancestry and there is no way to “auto-populate” a tree; so understanding the importance of researching when I began, I must have selected all the hints because the maternal side of my tree goes back to the 1700s Netherlands, with names that are oddly formatted. (It looks to be the given names of the father and grandfather before the individual’s given name). I know the exact tree these names came from because the individual also added emoticons before the names.

I am at a point where I don’t know if I should just delete everyone on that side born before a certain year, or leave everything as is and research each name as I come upon it.

Long shot but I’m a descendent of “Jane Cheraw” who married Thomas Etheridge. Although not much of her carried over into me, I’d like to know if any of you are familiar with this tribe and/or family and could tell me more. Her granddaughter was Amy Creech, one of my grandmothers from afar. Their tribe only hosted 510 and by 1768, reduced to around 50, so I’m not giving my hopes up with finding any living descendants or active tribal members being that Saura joined the Catawba Issa Tribe and moved west. Thank you!!

Hello my MIL bought a BRAND NEW kit (apparently in 2022) and we finally found it and tried to use it but keep getting invalid code. Ancestry says they MUST have her original email to do anything but since she has no idea how she bought it she has no information.

They confirmed with 3 phone calls that the number is new and never used but do not know why. They think it might have expired.. I said its a brand new unused kit and I want a replacement but they will NOT do anything without the origrinal receipt or email account. After 4 years that information is gone, so does anyone know what can be done?

I told them I would be willing to pay shipping or some part of a new kit and they wanted the full price, but then told me a sale would take it to $39. I am upset because it is a new kit that was paid for and now can't use it and feel ripped off.

Thoughts? Thank you!

Hey everyone,

I need an expert set of eyes to help me with deciphering this old marriage record of my 6x Great-Grandparents, as it could contain some valuable information I'm looking for. Particularly, the information written in the groom and brides section. Hopefully the picture quality is good enough. Any help is appreciated. Thank you.

My user name on Reddit is ripe crackers. My tree on Ancestry is the Nason Family Tree and my user name is treeleaves_1. I have worked on my tree and helped others with their trees for over twenty years. I have in the past 10 years helped several people who were adopted learn who their birth family is and I created their family trees for them.

I came across this in a 1760 parish baptism record. All the other entries are listed in the format "John Smith & Jane his wife" but this one is listed as "Richard and Eliz. Holden Vagabo(?)"

Does anyone know why they are listed this way and what does Vagabo mean? Is it Elizabeth's maiden name? Does it mean they were vagabonds? Or she was a vagabond? Or something else entirely?

Hey guys my Nanas Great Nana.. she was from America.. and she was called Anna Mary Fisher birn 24th May 1872 in Pennsylvania.. died 1942 at rhe aged of 70 in Barrow-in-Furness.

Her Mum was called Almira Saunders born 1839-1842 around there in Arkansas.. and her Mum died in 1923.

Her Dad was called John Fisher born 6 may 1820 in Pennsylvania.. and died on 21st February 1899.

I am here just to find out who Almira Saunders Grandparents are.. her Dad is Simon Sanders born 1808 in Arkansas.. and her Mum is Anna Drew born 1813.

I am trying to find Simon Sanders parents.. it seemed to come to a dead end.

Sorry if this alot.

TL;DR: Great-grandfather killed as a civilian near Pinsk, Belarus, ~Oct 1944, never formally recorded anywhere. Contacted the main regional archives already. Looking for less obvious record types or people who've cracked similar cases.

My great-grandfather, Wlodzimierz Paszkiewicz, lived with his wife Anna (née Halukiewicz) in the village of Bulgary (Bołhary), Lemieszewicze commune, Pinsk district — then Polesie Voivodeship, Poland, now Belarus.

Per firsthand family account (his own son witnessed it as a child), he was shot and killed near their home around October 1944, during the period Soviet forces retook the area from German control. As far as we can tell, this death was never formally registered anywhere — no military record, no repression case file, nothing.

What we've already tried:
- NIAB Minsk (National Historical Archive of Belarus) — intake currently suspended
- Brest State Archive — replied, don't hold civil/vital records, redirected us onward
- Pinsk Zonal Archive — contacted, awaiting reply
- Arolsen Archives, OBD Memorial, Open List (Soviet repression database), ICRC tracing archive — all searched, no match
- Szukaj w Archiwach (Polish archives portal), Radzima.net — both worked through fairly thoroughly

So I'm not looking for "have you tried the obvious archive" — I'm looking for:
- Less obvious record types that might capture this kind of death (village-level burial records, later reparations/compensation claims, local council or militia reports from 1944–45)
- Anyone who has actually resolved a similar case — civilian death during front-line chaos, never bureaucratically processed
- Researchers or local historical societies specializing in the Pinsk/Polesie region specifically
- Whether it's worth searching under the Cyrillic form of his name (Владимир/Уладзімір Пашкевіч) rather than the Polish spelling

Any leads, even small ones, genuinely appreciated. Thank you.

Any one else tried the Genealogy Record Search AI on Genomelink? I'm enjoying it myself. Not a lot of verifiable info though.

for a class I am being asked to put together a presentation about my family ethnicity, the problem is we don’t really know about about it. a quick google search revealed a little bit about European roots and migration to the US but aside from that I don’t have names or photos. is there any way I can find information online? I only know back to the names of my grandparents by someone might have names of their parents too.

I've gone down too far of a rabbit hole and only want people on my tree if there is official evidence (not just copying from related trees).

How can I delete somebody but still keep them as a suggested potential parent if I find evidence and want to add them back? Thanks.

Hello!

I am waiting to reach out to Newfoundland and Labrador Vital Statistics as a last resort since I've seen a lot of posts about their lengthy turnaround time. I am searching for a birth record or baptismal record for my great-great Grandfather, William Thomas Norman, born in Cupids Newfoundland in 1904/1905 I was able to find a baptismal record for his father, John Charles Norman (born 1873 est.) I know William married his wife, Hilda Hanson, around 1930ish, in New Jersey. He immigrated to the US and died in Charlottesville, Virginia in 1957.

I am not sure what to do next. There's no information on familysearch and I have a copy of his death certificate on the way (so I can petition for the birth certificate, if it exists). I also can't find anything regarding a church or parish they belonged to. Any advice on how to move forward would be helpful! Thank you!

Putting out a lead for someone who may be interested.

So I recently went on a deep dive of my ancestry after taking a DNA test. Come to find out I had an ancestor in Nuevo Leon(1700-1759). He was documented as " mestizo" under the caste system implemented at that time. "Mestizo" meaning half European and half Indian.

From my understanding the tribes of Alazapas, Borrados, Coahuiltecos, and Huachichiles are all considered Coahuiltecan ancestry. My grandmother and her parents were from around Mission,TX. Before that, my great-great grandparents lived in Cerralvo, Nuevo Leon, Mexico. I would really like to reconnect with that part of my ancestry.

How do I got about reaching out to the Coahuiltecan Nation?

Any advice or guidance would help. Thank you.

Below are a few resources I used to trace my ancestry:

https://www.indigenousmexico.org/articles/tracing-your-indigenous-roots-in-northeast-mexico-and-texas
https://www.indigenousmexico.org/articles/indigenous-nuevo-leon-land-of-the-coahuiltecans

https://native-land.ca/listings/territories/alazapas

my biological father was born from some kind of scandalous situation. Scandalous for the times in the 1920s… His sealed birth records confirmed that people went to great lengths to hide the identities of the actual parents involved. So DNA on ancestry has allowed me to figure out who my paternal grandfather is finally after trying to figure this out for the last 10 years. And I am close to figuring out who my paternal grandmother was as well. But I can’t imagine how they ever came together. It’s looking like my paternal grandmother was a southern lady or at least with roots deep in the south. And my paternal grandfather was firmly rooted in Canada, and in Jewish faith. How they ever met up is beyond me. I know they were both from prominent families. or tightknit families that could protect each other and hide information or change info. And I know the only times border crossing records show paternal grandfather was in northern states near Canada. Except when he first immigrated, but that was too early on to be relevant. Does anyone have any idea since the border crossings don’t give evidence for the period of time when it would’ve been occurring between 1925 to 1926 in the spring. I know that he and his family crossed the border into the US in Idaho about six months after the child my father would’ve been conceived. He went with his wife and two kids. How could this event happen? right now it seems like my maternal grandmother’s family was rooted in Missouri, but had strong connections in the south. And their children eventually moved to California.. ironically all of my paternal grandfather’s children moved to California too. but that was later on. any thoughts or suggestions?