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.
