I have spent 40 years trying to find my father Joseph's family. I only had the surname he remembere
find him at 2 years old with the family in the 1910 NJ state census, but he is with the adopted family in NY city in the 1915 Federal census. His one sister was living with an Aunt in 1915. I cannot find the death dates for the parents or any info going forward from 1910. There were other sisters and I cannot find them. It is like they just disappeared. His sister's great grandson who I connected with has no info only says something must have happened to the family as all the children were scattered. He says his Dad says his grandmother never spoke of her family. I am the last surviving member of my family. All have passed. I would just like to know why my Dad was placed for adoption. What could have happened. I have tried to look for them with no success. Any suggestions on how I might proceed with my search would be much appreciated. Susan Gardner (Marsh) Federico
Answers
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Thank you
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These situations can be extremely frustrating. I myself have adoption Issues in with my ancestors
It would be helpful to the volunteers here if you would include names dates and places ... the more info you are willing to share, the more likely someone will be able to help you. With that said, I have found luck by searching probate records, they often list the reason the child was adopted out. Have you tried contacting the agency involved with the adoption? Or the child welfare dept for the state? Depending on which state the adoption took place, you may be able to obtain some information by making some phone calls Good luck! 0 -
I have no information on where or the name of the agency where my Dad was adopted from. I only know that sometime in between 1910 and 1915 he was placed for adoption and was adopted by William and Matilda Gardner of Manhattan, NY. I have more info about his birth parents and his other siblings. Where should I post that info?
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I personally try to post every detail I can possibly remember and I encourage others to do so... little details that might seem insignificant to one person, could be a huge clue for another ... so I would suggest posting all the info you can to the @Adoption and Unknown Family Research group... dates, names, locations, possible parents (birth and adoptive), siblings, any birth or death dates and locations... orphanage name if any... basically anything you have that may help with research. Most public sites discourage using names of those whom are still living ... if there are living persons involved that is usually best done via private message
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Also have you searched old newspapers for the names of your father and his siblings, birth parents, adoptive parents? I find old newspapers to be a priceless resource! Some are laid like newspapers.com... others are free like chronicling America
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I have looked at NJ newspapers but without death dates for the parents I don't know what date to look at. There was nothing about my dad and his siblings. I will make a post with all the information on have on the family with dates and location and see if anyone answers. Thank you for your suggestions. I know I may never know what happened to the family. I had all but given up hope of ever knowing who his family was and finding him was something I never thought possible. I just want to know why he was placed for adoption It breaks my heart knowing how frightened he must have been as he was only age 2-7 at the time. He passed away at age 50 when I was only 5 years old.
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I wonder if the site Find a grave would have anything on his parents ?
I am not sure when Nj or NY started keeping adoption records but you could contact them to see if you could obtain your father's records & his siblings
https://www.nj.gov/health/vital/adoption/vital-record-law-changes-faqs/
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You don’t necessarily need to know the dates, sometimes the names are enough while searching... it just depends ... and I know what you mean... I’ve been searching trying to find out what happened to my grandfather who was adopted at age 3... he died when my dad was 7... and the more i learn, the more heartbreaking the story gets
I’ve been searching for 20 years and finally am a little closer to finding out... from what I’ve learned through my own research and helping others... most of these cases are due to parents divorcing or one or both dying or the parents becoming destitute and no longer able to care for the children. I haven’t found any (that I’ve personally worked on) where the parents just decided they didn’t want them anymore. Hopefully we can help you find some answers here. The people here are wonderful and super helpful! 0 -
I looked for them on Find a Grave and nothing that matches them. I will check on the adoption site you noted. Thank you
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FYI
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Related (General) 'Question" ...
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I have spent 40 years trying to find my father Joseph's family and finally after taking a dna test I found a descendent of one of his sisters. He was given up for adoption sometime between 1910 and 1915, he is with his family and is 2 years old in the
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Brett
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I can share those census records I just need to know how to do that. Do I just copy and paste? I am feeling pretty dumb - what is PID?
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Okay. Thank you
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PID is the the little “code” attached to each person in the FSFT .. I think it stands for “personal identification number” ... I found them in the FSFT and have been adding sources as I find them... I’ve searched newspapers till I’m blue in the face lol.. I can’t seem to find them anywhere either ... very strange
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good luck!