Draft Card

This is my paternal grandfather's draft card application. It is another document that is available. I got this from a paid site, Ancestry.com. It's probably one of the better known sites for family history. You should check it out.

Social Security Number

This is a copy of the actual form that my grandfather filled out to get his social security card. It has his parents names, his birth date, place of birth, his place of employment. And a copy of his signature.

As long as the person is deceased, and on Social Security's list as deceased, you can request a copy. It can be a big help in figuring out more about your ancester. By looking at this I can look for his parents(in England) and see if I can find him living with them.

I have quite a few of these documents in my collection. They cost about $30, but the information that I get from them has really made it a worthwhile investment.

Mother's Day

I wanted to do something for Mother's Day. This is a picture of my Nana, my maternal grandmother, my mother, Hazel, my oldest daughter, Kelly, and me. The occasion was my grandmother's 82nd birthday in 1995. At the time, my daughter was 15. She is now a mother herself. She has 2 beautiful children, a boy and a girl, my grandchildren. My mother didn't live long enough to see her great grandchildren. She died in 1998. I think of her often and I see some of her in each of my children, and also in each of my 5 grandchildren. I hope that my children tell their children about their grandmother. I know she would have love to see this new generation come to be.

Clarance Batchelor and Clara Tweed

When doing family history, it is always a good idea to find some way to verify the information that you find. For example, I know that I am related to my parents.  But what about someone looking for my history in 100 years. How would they verify this?

 This is a marriage return for my maternal great-grandparents, Stanley Batchelor's father and mother. I know that Stanley is my grandfather and I have documents to show that. I also can be pretty certain that Clarence and Clara are his parents. His birth certificate has their names on it as his parents. The marriage return is another level of documentation that shows me that I am on the right family line.

One Piece of Advice

I found this picture at my father's house. He had died in July of 2006 and my brother and sisters and I were cleaning out his house. I believe this is a picture of my maternal grandparents on their wedding day.

I got into family history after my mom passed in 1998. I wish now that I had asked more questions about what she knew about her parents and grandparents. She was kind of a private person, and didn't share much unless you asked her.

After my father died, I realized that I was on my own to try to identify the subjects of the pictures that we found in the house. My sister and I have been working together to try to figure out who these people are and how they may be related to us.

If I could offer one piece of advice to anyone who may be interested in finding their roots, it would be to ask questions, lots of them. Ask your parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles. Even cousins can sometimes steer you in the right direction.

I wished I had asked more questions...

Charles Hunter

Charles Hunter was my mother's maternal grandfather. He and his wife, Bertha had 13 children. He was 68 years old in this photo taken in April, 1942. I'm not sure who the baby is. I think it is one of his grandchildren. He died in December of 1959. I was 11 months old.