Short Version- I’m trying to find information on my paternal grandfather. I know his first and last name and that he lived in Philadelphia. Sadly, it seems to be a pretty common name. So, I could use my fellow Dopers’ advice on how to proceed.
Long version- On Mom’s side, I’m descended from Samuel Calchinsky. I thought he was from Romania. But a cousin says he has Ellis Island papers that say Russia. In any event, the Czar’s soldiers were going to have a pogrom. Samuel objected to this. There was a fight. Samuel killed the leader of the soldiers. After that, he had to flee to America. Samuel changed his last name from Calchinsky to Kall. He married and had nine children. One of these was Sylvia, my grandmother. There’s debate over whether Samuel Calchinsky was from what is now the Ukraine or what is now Belarus. But, there are plenty of stories about the man. He spoke several languages- OTTOMH English, German, Yiddish, Russian and Mandarin. When WWII started, he tried repeatedly to enlist. He was turned down on account of being fifty. The Philadelphia Inquirer ran a photograph of Samuel shaking hands with General Patton and an article holding him up as an example.
On my Father’s side, I knew my grandmother. But, due to divorce and my grandmother making Dad choose sides, I never knew my paternal grandfather. As the years go by, I find myself often wondering what he was like and if I can see him in myself or my family.
Thanks in advance for any help you can give me.
Hi Doc. What I found works for me is to work backwards, collecting every bit of documentary evidence, methodically, that I can get my hand on.
However, I am not sure what American documents do and do not show - for instance, I would get my parent’s wedding certificate here in Victoria, Australia, and it could give me: mother’s maiden name, and her father’s name, and often occupation; father’s father’s occupation; etc. So, from the wedding certificate of my parent’s, I would hope to get some clues to my grandfather.
Since your grandparents divorced, there should be documents regarding that, and a lot of those databases are now searchable on line. You do often have to pay for access.
From what you have written, it seems highly unlikely that your great-grandfather Samuel would still be alive? 50ish at the start of WWII? I would search an online database for his death details. Here we have the Births, Deaths and Marriages database. I am sure you would have something similar?
I believe the Ellis Island data is online now, so that is another really good place to search.
There are a few on line sites, like ancestry.com, which for a once per month fee, allow you to access all the databases they are signed up to. This can be a more economical way to do it, than to search databases individually. They often have free trial offers, that you can go and see whether they have databases that are relevant to you.
That did it. I found a Harry married to a Virginia living in Philly in 1930. More, Virginia’s birthplace is given as England. She also lists her father’s birthplace as Austria. Dad always told us that Ginny was born in England and that his grandfather was Austrian.
Knowing the year and place of Harry’s birth helps me eliminate some records. But, I still can’t find a record of his death (I believe he died in Philadelphia) or any other records.
Depending on where you live, and if you live near Philly, you could start with the local historical society. Libraries also usually have access to Ancestry.com, and if you have a library card you might be able to get on too Heritage Quest.Ellis Island also has, I believe, all of their records online and free. I looked him up and his name didn’t show up.
If you have dates for him you should be able to find him in the census records. If he was alive in 1940 the census will say who gave the information and you might get a better idea of where he was born.