I just found out my dad last name is not Lee as we know it, but Shek. Wonder how I might find this
Answers
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Carol, I've done some searching for Kwangtung. Wiki shows it in Taiwan, but I haven't found any birth records so far. Is this the place your dad's family was from? What is the year of his birth and ID number in FamilySearch? What years did he live in Hong Kong? Any extra information you can provide will be helpful. Looking forward to hearing from you.
Carol Selander
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Thanks for the reply, as I know it my dad was born in 1901 but I just recently found out that he could have been a paper boy, so maybe none of the information might not be to my belief. His daughter, my 1/2 sister kept her family name Shek as she stayed in Hong Kong. His ID is LVDB-CP4 in my tree I just got my birth record and it says he was from Kwangtung but I know he lived in Hong Kong at one point too. My grandfather was from Toisan from what they told me.
I hope this helps
Thank you
Carol
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Hi Carol,
Toisan / Taishan is one of the 4 counties that comprise the Siyi region in Guangdong , formerly known as "Kwangtung" province.
Can your half sister in Hong Kong provide you with any of the family information?
For overseas Chinese, most of them have gravestones that have the Chinese characters inscribed that indicate, name, dates of birth/death, province, county, and village of birth. The name of the ancestral village is important because there maybe a copy of the village genealogy book that contains the family lineage.
If it is not possible to take a clear photo of the gravestone, then you may need to search the archives of the National Archives and Records Administration for the case file associated with the arrivals/departures of your father & grandfather. If you want to do this, please email me directly at "Tomclan@Gmail.com" and I will provide you with the links to my DropBox that has entries for Chinese that came to America, depending upon their ports of entry.
Henry
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I have never known my 1/2 sister and it was through dna on 23 and me that I found my 1/2 great nephew from her full brother ( my 1/2 ). He informs me that she has passed on but she has 2 girls and 1 boy, the boy I use to write to when I was younger but lost contact with. I am currently trying to somehow get in contact with again, but my nephew is kinda leary of all my questions. His aunt and uncles as well as mom all did this paper son thing I believe. I don't know if there is a backlash to being a paper son or daughter still but I want answers, at the same time I want to get to know my family. It doesn't seem easy but I am trying. His father came to Canada and is not burried in China so that will not help. Hoping my nephew will feel more relaxed and will help me find my roots. I would love all the help I can get and appreciate it so much ... thank you
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Hi Carol,
Some people who are descended from a paper son/daughter either in the US or Canada are reluctant to share any family information maybe because the family did not go thru the amnesty programs in the US & Canada and are afraid of legal issues. Also, I have know people in your situation who did lots of research and came up with lots of family history - then these reluctant relations became friendly and wanted to have such information.
If the ancestor cam e thru Canada, there may be information about his Chinese name and the name of the ancestral village and its location - this is all you need to find the family lineage if the village genealogy book still exists.
Canadian records:
https://open.library.ubc.ca/cIRcle/collections/facultyresearchandpublications/52383/items/1.0075988
These websites might be useful in finding a photo of the gravestone:
https://search.findmypast.com/search-world-records/canada-billion-graves-cemetery-index
Henry
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