I got a message on Facebook the other day (still have an account from my college days, though since I work at a university and have a university email address I could easily have one now anyway) from a woman in Germany with the same last name. This happens sometime, since my name is somewhat unique. She asked if we could be family.
Unfortunately, I have no answer for her.
My paternal grandfather died when my father was very young. No records seem to exist for him. Dad had his father's name listed as Joseph, and I've found records of a Joseph Raeke in Baltimore around that time, but the problem is, there seem to be more than one, and none seem to match "the profile" for my grandfather. Not to mention there doesn't seem to be records on my grandmother, either. Though, she did get remarried, and for the life of me I can't remember what her new married name was. But I do remember her maiden name which I can't find any records of...so...
Dead end.
Kind of frustrating. On my mother's side, we have a pretty good handle on the lineage. But on my father's...nothing. Hell, the name might not have even been Raeke, that could have come
later on. We have an instance of that on the other side of the family. It's very, and all, possible that it was changed at some point in the past. But how will I ever know? Everyone that may have an inkling is dead or unaware.
Not to mention that in my search, I found out that I'm not the only Bart Raeke to have existed in this world. Which was cool and disappointing at the same time. But a Bartholomew Raeke from Chicago was drafted in World War I. Though, to be fair, my name isn't Bartholomew. Common mistake.
Strange, being hard to trace it when it is so rare.
ReplyDeleteHave you tried the Mormons? They do a lot of lineage stuff because a living convert can retrospectively claim their entire ancestry for the church. Their research tends to be a bit shaky, though.
I have a full ancestry.com account at your disposal. Did a quick search and got a hit off the 1930 census for a Roland J Raeke, age 17, in Baltimore. Has all the siblings and such listed. Could be a start...
ReplyDeleteI would think your grandfather would be in the Social Security Death Index. About what year did he die? Could be that Joseph is actually his middle name.
ReplyDeleteWhen you say the German asked if you could be family, was she making a request? Hey, wanna be penpals? Wanna be family?
ReplyDelete(As long as she doesn't point out she's got twenty million Deutsche Marke ready to wire to your account!)
I emailed you the 1920 & 1930 censuses in pdf form. RAEKE in Baltimore, MD. Father is Charles, there is a son listed as Joseph in 1920 and listed as Roland J. in 1930. Born about 1914 in Maryland. Could that Roland/Joseph be your Grandfather?
ReplyDeletesomeone in my paternal grandfather's family did a tree going all the way back -- waaaaaay back -- several generations, still in "the old country." i don't know all the lineage, and let's just say, thanks to a greedy cousin, i may never know unless i delve into it myself. my paternal grandmother's maiden name though seems to cause a dead end once you try to go any further back than my great-grandparents. it seems we're no longer sure if the way they spelled their name (Malsheske) is correct or not. which means we could be German (Malsheske), Polish (Malsheski) or Russian (Malshesky). or some derivative thereof.
ReplyDeleteChewy is the genealogy queen. Let us know if she was able to help you out!
ReplyDelete