G2G: What if I cannot find any sources for an individual and all I have is things I've seen and/or heard?

Question

This question is about my mother. I simply cannot find any verification of her birth, immigration and marriage to my father. I know they were married-I have the wedding album.

The only thing I have is a marriage certificate from her and my stepfather.

So, how do I do source for her vitals?

Comments

If you would give us some more details for your mother and father someone might be able to check some places you might not know about and find something. Names dates and locations would make it easier to help you, and even estimates help.

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Thank you. My Father, Emil Walczyk,  was born in Galicia (Poland), on July 24 or 25, 1930. He came to the U.S. in 1949 on The USAT Gen. Bundy. I have the passenger list. His father was Jakob Walczyk, was born in Poland, I believe, in 1883. Jakob died in July, 1971 in Brooklyn, NY and buried in Bronx, NY, St. Raymond's Cemetery.Emil's mother was Maria(Mary) Walczyk (do not know her maiden name, born in 1893, I believe in Poland). All 3, Jakob, Maria(Mary) and Emil Walczyk are buried in St Raymond's. Jakob and Maria came to the U.S. in 1949 on the USAT Gen. Stewart. I have the passenger list for them also. That is where it stops - cannot find anything further. 

My mother, was born Maria Helen Perlowski on March 10, 1934 in Biezun, Poland to Henryk Perlowski and Cecelia (or Celia) Rasztemborski. She came to the U.S. (alone) in June of 1949 on The Batory. Her mother came earlier in March 1938. That is all I have except for a little bit of a timeline for my mom which I would love to know how to upload it to her profile. It came from a cousin of mine.

PS. All came through The Port of New York.

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Maria Walczyk died Feb. 24, 1969.

Jakob died  July 21, 1978

Emil died August, 25, 1985

St. Raymond's Cemetery (new), Bronx, New York

Lot: L433   Grave: 64

Mary  H. Vitale nee Maria H. Perlowski died Jan. 17, 2015 on Staten Island, NY  and was cremated.

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I think this is him "New York, New York Passenger and Crew Lists, 1909, 1925-1957," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:24RV-ZPW : accessed 20 April 2016), Emil Walczyk, 1949; citing Immigration, New York City, New York, United States, NARA microfilm publication T715 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

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It appears that you have enough information to create profiles for most of the people you mentioned. There are a lot of other possible sources for them to be found on familysearch.org and that is a free site that has a very large database of source material.

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Yes, I have this in my computer files, but like I said earlier, I cannot get any further than that.

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Yes, all of these profiles are already in my tree. Thanks for your time.

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I'm confused. You are looking for her marriage to your father, Emil Walczyk? I Googled her name and their marriage certificate came up via familysearch. What are you like looking for exactly?

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I see that's her second marriage.

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The marriage certificate is from her 2nd marriage. I am looking for her birth document and marriage document from her 1st marriage to Emil Walczyk. I am also looking for an immigration/emigration document.

Thanks for your time.

Answer 1

I see no one has directly answered your question, "how do I do source for her vitals?"  You cite what you have.

<ref>Wedding photo album - Emil Wyzack and Maria Helen Perlowski, undated but approximately (insert date) [or 22 June 1960 per family tradition ] [or about 1960 based on birth of oldest child], in the possession of Jo Walzcyk-McCourt.</ref>

Or

<ref>Personal knowledge of Maria Helen Perlowski, as communicated to her daughter, Jo Walzcyk-McCourt</ref>

Comments

Thank you. I'm still a little confused on the procedure but I'll figure it out. Thanks again.

Answer 2

I would just add what you have and from time to time look again. There are records being digitized every day and as more become available you may just find some on her.

Answer 3

Index Only

 

Emil Walczyk

Birthdate: 24 July 1930

Address: 112 N Henry St, Brooklyn, NY, 11222-4748

 

Voter Registration Lists, Public Record Filings, Historical Residential Records, and Other Household Database Listings. U.S. Public Records Index, 1950-1993, Volume 2 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010

Comments

Thank you but I have all of this for Emil Walczyk except his birth document.

Answer 4

This answer assumes that all the other, useful answers leave you with no real source but a "story" you would like to prove or disprove. I use "Research Notes" to make progress on various "unknowns" when I return to an individual.  Other people might also chime in by editing the "Research Notes" with answers or better-focused questions. Is this already an accepted practice or should I be attempting to work through a different process?