Trying to find out who my grandfathers father was.

Question

Hello,  There is no family information on who my great grandfather might be.

This is the information I have:

Grandfather: Clarence Harry Klein DOB 9-25-1906  Detroit, MI  DOD 4-3-1972 Tampa, FL

His Mother:  Nettie Josephine Klein DOB 7-9-1886/87  DOD 01-1967 Oscoda, MI

She apparently gave him her maiden name as the last name.

Any assistance you can give would be awesome.

Comments

Hi Terri,

Are you sure Nettie is the mother? The 1910 Census implies that she is the sister

Whose Father was: Fred Klein

Mother: Mary Christe

Name:	Mary Christe
Gender:	Female
Race:	White
Age:	20
Birth Year:	abt 1861
Birth Place:	Balmitore, Michigan
Marriage Date:	21 Oct 1881
Marriage Place:	Hamtramck, Wayne, Michigan, USA
Residence Place:	Detroit
Spouse:	Fred Klein
Record Number:	217

 

1910 Census

Name:	Clarence H Klein [Clarance H Klein]
Age in 1910:	3
Birth Year:	abt 1907
Birthplace:	Michigan
Home in 1910:	Detroit Ward 9, Wayne, Michigan
Street:	Chestnut St
Race:	White
Gender:	Male
Relation to Head of House:	Son
Marital Status:	Single
Father's name:	Fred Klein
Father's Birthplace:	Germany
Mother's name:	Mary C Klein
Mother's Birthplace:	Maryland
Neighbors:
Household Members:	Name Age Fred Klein 50 Mary C Klein 49 Nettie L Klein 22 Mabel E Klein 15 Clarence H Klein 3

---

Name:	Nettie Klein
Gender:	Female
Race:	White
Age:	29
Birth Year:	abt 1888
Birth Place:	Michigan
Marriage Date:	23 Jun 1917
Marriage Place:	Detroit, Michigan, USA
Residence Place:	Detroit, Michigan
Father:	Fred Klein
Mother:	Mary Klein
Spouse:	William Teeters
Record Number:	148602

Answer 1

According to his marriage record from ancestry, , unless I am mistaken, his parents are listed as

Fred Klein & Nettie Christie. 

He is listed as being married to Alice M Mero on May 26, 1926 in Detroit Michigan. 

Here is what I believe to be him in the 1910 US census.

"United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MLTL-N2W : accessed 18 June 2018), Clarence H Klein in household of Fred Klein, Detroit Ward 9, Wayne, Michigan, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 130, sheet 10A, family 226, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 683; FHL microfilm 1,374,696.

Here is a bit more, a marriage record of what appears to be his older sister Lillian, Gives pretty much the same information about the parents as his marriage record did.

"Ontario Marriages, 1869-1927," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KSZX-3KF : 11 March 2018), Fred Klein in entry for Frederick Gordon Mcgregor and Lillian Josephine Klein, 03 Mar 1908; citing registration , Windsor, Essex, Ontario, Canada, Archives of Ontario, Toronto; FHL microfilm 1,871,866.

Lastly, to tie it all in, is the 1900 census record for Fred Klein and family.   While Clarence has yet to be born, we do se Lillian listed.

"United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M913-YT8 : accessed 18 June 2018), Frederick Klein, Detroit city Ward 11, Wayne, Michigan, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 124, sheet 3B, family 62, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,240,751.

I'm not sure why the slight discrepancy in names of the mother, Nettie as apposed to Mary.   My best guess is that Nettie is a nickname perhaps and Mary is the proper name.

 I hope this helps.

craig

Answer 2

One more thing, which steve Schmidt mentioned, it appears that Nettie Kline born 1886/1887 is in fact the older sister.

Comments

I would tend to agree however you cannot assume census records to be 100% accurate. However a record for a postulate

Answer 3

Hi Terri!

Usually when women give their children their maiden names it's because they had the child out of wedlock - they weren't married, so there is no other last name to give the child (unless it is an acknowledged natural born child). Have you tried doing a DNA test? If you take a 23andme or AncestryDNA test (or both), and then upload to other sites such as GEDmatch, MyHeritage, and other sites you'll be able to maximize the amount of matches you have. Building your tree out to meet their trees (and their trees out to meet your tree) and a lot of comparison will be able to help you eventually narrow down who might be your great-grandfather - whether he was born out of wedlock or not. It will require a lot of work though.

ETA: Wow, lots of answers as I was typing! Nevermind, then! (But you might want to do a DNA test or two just in case!)

Answer 4

Just to add to the answers above...

In the 1910 census, Mary said she was the mother of 5 children, 4 living. By trying to track down all of Fred and Mary's children you might get a clue. It certainly sounds as if Clarence was Nettie's child.

Also, on Ancestry, Clarence and Alice divorced

Name:	Alice Klein
Marriage Date:	3 May 1926
Marriage Place:	Detroit, Michigan
Decree Date:	13 Jul 1944
Decree Place:	Macomb, Michigan, USA
Spouse Name:	Clarence Klein
Number of Children:	2
Divorce Status:	Granted

And Nettie said her parents were Fred Klein and Mary Klein when she married William Teeters 23 Jun 1917 in Detroit

They had 2 children when her divorce was granted on 28 April 1939 in Wayne, Michigan