I have my father's birth certificate and adoption papers. They give his mother's name, but do not g

User15743918730692872876

I have my father's birth certificate and adoption papers. They give his mother's name, but do not give the father. I know the last name of the father because he was named at birth before the adoption.

How do I find out who the father was?

Mother's name: Klara Elise Hoiland

Birth name of my father: Joseph William Bowyer.

Born Richmond, California, year 1927

 

Lenore

LegacyUser

Lenore, Is the birth father's last name on the birth certificate? I am not clear how you know his surname.

 

Have you submitted a DNA test? This might help you find the family that you are looking for. DNA kits will be on sale for Father's Day.

User15743918730692872876

The birth certificate and the adoption papers list my father as Joseph William Bowyer. Since his mother's surname was Hoiland, I assumed his father's surname was Bowyer. I have known those 2 names since I was very young (I am in my 70's now). Nowhere on either of these two documents does it mention the bio father. There was a story in the family that had those two surnames but it is not anything that I can substantiate. Supposedly one of the parent's family were in construction and built a house on one of my father's relatives property. I knew the house and the relatives, but they are all deceased now.

I have submitted a DNA test, as have my mother and my brother. Using a process of elimination I have found my father was Norwegian on his mother's side and English + unknown on his father's side. The Hoilands were from Norway and the Bowyers were from England.

I have traced the Bowyers family line backwards, coming from oldest to the most current. I have an idea who his father might have been, but just can't get enough facts to say for sure it is him. So I am basically 1 generation apart from putting the last piece in place.

I have found 1 Bowyer that I have a fairly strong DNA connection to and have gotten some information from him.

Hope this gives you more info on the situation.

Lenore

Jenna Smith

Lenore -

If you tested with Ancestry DNA, it is possible to sort your matches into groups of shared matches. @Carolyn Webber​ - is there a link to a tutorial on how to do this?

Then, by building trees to the matches, you can see the surnames that are your common ancestors. If the Bowyer surname is in the trees, then you can be more confident in the family stories. If not, then you may be able to identify him.