Saturday, September 28, 2013
Locating Next of Kin
Last week I was asked to help find any living relatives of a man who had founded a company in Nashville. The company he founded about 70 years ago is planning to have an event and wanted to invite and honor any of his living relatives.
All I had was the founder's name. He died in the 60's but I was unable to locate his obituary. I found him on a 1940 census and also found when he died. A photo and the name of his daughter was in an old newspaper article and it also mentioned where she attended school. I hoped the daughter was still living but learned that she had died also. So next I needed to find out if the daughter had any children but first I had to find her married name.
A book had been written about the founder and in the book it mentioned that he had two grandchildren. I began to search for the granddaughters and found a photo of one of the daughters in a yearbook for a private school in Nashville.
I contacted the private school by email and explained why I was looking for one of their former students. My email was forwarded to the Alumnae Association and I received a response saying the granddaughter was married and divorced and gave me her married name.
Once I had a married name I contacted the court clerk's office to ask if they had a divorce record. At first I didn't think I was going to find her, but the nice clerk kept searching and found a divorce in the 70's. I asked the clerk if she could tell me her last known address that was on the divorce record and she was able to find the old address f rom the 70's. What's the chance the same people might own the property today?
Sure enough after checking the property records I discovered that the granddaughter of the founder still owned the property even though she had remarried and her name was changed.
Now I had her name and address, and it didn't take long to find a phone number. Within a few minutes of finding the information I had her on the phone. She was very happy that her grandfather's memory was going to be honored and she and her children will be at the event.
With only a name to start with I was able to locate the living relatives of the founder of this company.
It takes time and persistence to locate and look thru years of death records, obituaries, cemetery records, census records, and newspaper articles. Let me know if you need help in finding ancestors, survivors, or heirs.
Privacy laws protect certain information, but there are many public records available at public libraries, archive libraries, court houses, the internet, and many public offices. Hiring a professional investigator can save you time and money because they have the knowledge and experience to know how and where to look for information.
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Finding Your First Love
Several years ago I was contacted by a woman who wanted to find her first love......the one she should have married and never forgot. It had been about thirty years since she last saw him. She was very emotional and every day she would call to ask if I had found him yet.
Even though it had been thirty years and she had been married and divorced several times, she was sure that he was the love of her life and that he would be so thrilled to hear from her and know that she never forgot him.
She did not have much information to work with and it took me several days to find him. I wanted to find him just so she would quit calling me.
Before I begin searching for someone I tell my client not to have any unrealistic expectations. I never know if the person I am searching for is dead or alive, or if they have a family and this might cause a problem, or if the person I find may have a health problem and this might cause complications. I don't know what I will find, but I've always believed that people need closure, regardless of what I find and that the truth will set them free.
When I first make contact with someone I want to be considerate of their surroundings and always ask if this is a good time for them to talk, that I have something personal to discuss and don't want to cause them a problem. I tell them if this is not a good time to talk to please take my name and number and call me back when it is more convenient. I try to not upset anyone and treat others as I would want to be treated. I try to be respectful, thoughtful, kind, considerate, and very non-threatening. My goal is to help people, not hurt anyone.
So I finally found the client's first love. I called and talked to him and explained that my client had hired me to find him and she wanted to know how he was doing. He responded with "Please promise you won't give her my phone number.......tell her I'm in a coma and not expected to live."
I really dreaded calling my client to tell her that her first love did not want to hear from her. How would I break this news without breaking her heart? I just knew she would break down sobbing so I wanted to be gentle. I told her I had some good news and some bad news. The good news was that I found her first love, but the bad news is that he is happily married and she should not contact him. Instead of breaking down she just said, okay, will you see if you can find ???????. Apparently she had a list of old boyfriends and she was going to keep looking for them all to see if anyone wanted to see her again. Surprise - surprise!!! Not the reaction I expected but at least I didn't break her heart.
There could be several morals to this story:
"Don't have unrealistic expectations."
"Expect the unexpected."
"You and your first love will probably not remember the same things, or feel the same way."
More than likely the memory is better than the reality and it is probably best to leave the past alone. Finding your first love can burst your bubble and leave you feeling worse than you felt before you began your search......but I don't deny that everyone needs closure and regardless of what you find, everything will work out okay.
Privacy laws protect certain information, but there are many public records available at public libraries, archive libraries, court houses, the internet, and many public offices. Hiring a professional investigator can save you time and money because they have the knowledge and experience to know how and where to look for information.
Finding A Former High School Classmate
So often we lose track of our former classmates but thanks to alumni associations it is possible to keep in touch after being separated many years.
When I was growing up there were 17 kids in my neighborhood that went from the first thru the twelfth grades at the same schools. We spent the first nine years at Bailey and the next three years at East.
East High was a school that was fed students from three Junior High Schools, so there were lots of kids from other schools that were merged together in high school.
Those of us who grew up in the same neighborhood knew the parents and siblings of others our age. We probably knew where the father worked, and where the families attended church. So we had lots of clues to find someone.
But we did not know much about the students from other schools that we did not meet until high school. We did not know the street where they lived, we did not always know other members of their family, unless it was a sibling in a class ahead or behind ours. It was not unusual to only know someone by a nickname. With so little information how can we find them?
Years after graduating from school we might want to look up someone that we have not seen in a long time but where can we begin if all we know is a name or nickname from high school?
With today's social media sources it is possible to find someone on the internet with only a name. But of course a common name it is going to be more difficult. If the person cannot be located easily on the internet the search might be time consuming. It might require a trip to a library or archives library to look for all families with the last name of the person you are looking for.....but what if the classmate's parents were remarried and they live with a step-father or other member of the family with a different last name?
Finding someone with only a name or partial name can be difficult. Depending on how much information is known will determine whether or not the person can be located.
It would be nice if all you had to do is pick up the phone and call the Board of Education to ask for more information. But unfortunately privacy laws prevent some information from being public.
If you have tired and been unsuccessful in locating someone and need to consult with a professional, please contact me and let me see if I can help. Privacy laws protect some information, but there are many ways to find public information at libraries, court houses, archives, and on the internet.
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Adoption Searching
After working many years and tracking down criminals I discovered that the most difficult search of all is an adoption search. The main reason that this search is so difficult is that information is not available in most states without a court order. Only six states have "Open Records", meaning that the adoption records may be opened if certain criteria exists. In most states the state laws prevent adoptees or biological families from receiving any identifying information, therefore these laws are victimizing and preventing adoptees from knowing their identity.
According to a study committee at the Academy of Pediatrics it was disclosed that children need to know their identity in order to develop normally. It is not fair to deny a child the right to know it's identity, which is what these state laws are doing. By denying adoptees the right to know their identity these state laws are victimizing and discriminating adoptees.
What needs to be done to prevent state laws from victimizing adoptees? Every state has a legislature that makes the laws. Every voter votes to elect these representative to enact legislation to make laws. Until voters make it known that they want to make changes to the laws, the legislature will assume no one is unhappy with them, and no change will take place. For those who want to change the laws it is a fairly simple process. Someone need to register to become a "lobbyist". A lobbyist is a person who represents an interest group. The lobbyist will write down what changes they would like to see done to a certain law and will then ask an elected official to "sponsor" their bill (new law). There will need to be two sponsors, one in the House and one in the Senate. These sponsors will then send the proposed new law to a legal division to make sure the new law is worded correctly. Once the new proposed law is correctly written it may be distributed to each legislator. The lobbyist will need to make an appointment and talk to each individual elected official and ask for their vote.
If you are not happy with your state law and want to see a change, this is how you do it. It starts with one person who does not think something is fair. That person finds other people who agree and want to see a change. Soon there is a group of people who support your idea and when you feel like you have enough interest and support it is time to take action. You can hire a lobbyist or become a lobbyist. The lobbyist is the messenger who represents the views and interests of the group.
Are you happy with your state laws? Is there something you feel is unfair and you think there needs to be a change? Don't just sit there, do something. If no one does anything, nothing will happen.
Privacy laws protect certain information, but there are many public records available at public libraries, archive libraries, court houses, the internet, and many public offices. Hiring a professional investigator can save you time and money because they have the knowledge and experience to know how and where to look for information.
According to a study committee at the Academy of Pediatrics it was disclosed that children need to know their identity in order to develop normally. It is not fair to deny a child the right to know it's identity, which is what these state laws are doing. By denying adoptees the right to know their identity these state laws are victimizing and discriminating adoptees.
What needs to be done to prevent state laws from victimizing adoptees? Every state has a legislature that makes the laws. Every voter votes to elect these representative to enact legislation to make laws. Until voters make it known that they want to make changes to the laws, the legislature will assume no one is unhappy with them, and no change will take place. For those who want to change the laws it is a fairly simple process. Someone need to register to become a "lobbyist". A lobbyist is a person who represents an interest group. The lobbyist will write down what changes they would like to see done to a certain law and will then ask an elected official to "sponsor" their bill (new law). There will need to be two sponsors, one in the House and one in the Senate. These sponsors will then send the proposed new law to a legal division to make sure the new law is worded correctly. Once the new proposed law is correctly written it may be distributed to each legislator. The lobbyist will need to make an appointment and talk to each individual elected official and ask for their vote.
If you are not happy with your state law and want to see a change, this is how you do it. It starts with one person who does not think something is fair. That person finds other people who agree and want to see a change. Soon there is a group of people who support your idea and when you feel like you have enough interest and support it is time to take action. You can hire a lobbyist or become a lobbyist. The lobbyist is the messenger who represents the views and interests of the group.
Are you happy with your state laws? Is there something you feel is unfair and you think there needs to be a change? Don't just sit there, do something. If no one does anything, nothing will happen.
Privacy laws protect certain information, but there are many public records available at public libraries, archive libraries, court houses, the internet, and many public offices. Hiring a professional investigator can save you time and money because they have the knowledge and experience to know how and where to look for information.
Family Tree
After many years of tracking down people for others I decided it is time for me to search for my own ancestors. I was amazed at how much information I was able to find. The first night I was able to trace five generations on both my mother's and my father's side of the family. I found lots of relatives that I didn't know about and now I am thinking about actually going to the cities where they lived and looking up the places where they are buried. For me searching for people and information is like a treasure hunt and whatever I find is like finding the "golden egg". I plan to do more work and when I find out what countries my ancestors originated from I would like to visit those places too. I feel like I'm finally getting around to doing things on my "bucket list" and plan to put together a nice "family tree" for my kids and grandkids.
If you do not have your family history written down for your kids and grandkids I want to encourage you to do this. It is a wonderful gift to leave for your family.
Privacy laws protect certain information, but there are many public records available at public libraries, archive libraries, court houses, the internet, and many public offices. Hiring a professional investigator can save you time and money because they have the knowledge and experience to know how and where to look for information.
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