Menu
Log in
Forgot password




Log in

What's Your Biggest Challenge?

  • 16 Aug 2026 8:49 AM
    Quote
    Reply # 13668619 on 13517845
    Anonymous member (Administrator)

    Boy, isn't that the truth, Cindy!

    When I first got to a 5ggf, John Crothers, I found a John Crothers in PA who was poisoned to death, along with his wife. Made international news and they hung the girl who did it. This was 1796.

    I was excited to have such a scandal in the family. HOWEVER, I then realized that THIS John didn't have a son named Robert, who was my ggf!

    I ended up doing a spreadsheet, comparing MY John with "Poison John" in order to separate them both out. 
  • 15 Aug 2026 12:00 PM
    Quote
    Reply # 13668272 on 13517845
    Anonymous member

    My biggest challenge is sorting out people with the same name. I find it hard to get motivated to do all of the hard work it takes to sort them out. LOL
  • 13 Aug 2026 6:51 AM
    Quote
    Reply # 13667108 on 13517845
    Anonymous member (Administrator)

    Hi Paul,

    It's so frustrating when we have an ancestor we can't find! I have info on certain NINTH ggf's, but am still struggling to find the parents of a 3ggf...

    Before I realized - through DNA - that my paternal gm's parents were NOT her parents, I followed the line of who I thought was her father to Denmark. Learned that whole naming process.

    Two things come to mind that you might had thought of, but maybe forgot; did he change his name, out of fear of being caught coming into the country illegally. I'm sure you're aware that many people secured jobs on ships so they could avoid having to pay AND avoid having to go on the books. But also, if he was perhaps running from something in Denmark, that could be another reason to change his name. 

    And, if his surname WAS actually Albrechtsen, have you looked for any men named Albrecht around the time of his father's life, in Denmark? 

    Anyway, just brainstorming ideas that might help! 
  • 12 Aug 2026 10:17 AM
    Quote
    Reply # 13666542 on 13517845
    Anonymous member

       My biggest challange is finding more info about my Danish ancestor, Charles Albertson (possibly Karl Albrechtsen). 

       He "jumped ship" in Galveston Bay, Texas when he was 16 years old, according to my grandfather's story in 1979. I used to think he jumped off the ship and swam to shore! Nope, to "jump ship" meant that you left your job. So, that means he worked on the ship. 


       All the ship manifests that are published give only the passenger lists... not the employees! I've been through almost all the church records of Denmark on FamilySearch and the Danish National Archives with no clear good results. I cannot find is Immigration paperwork either. 

    So, I am still challeged... :) 
  • 06 Jul 2025 7:36 AM
    Quote
    Message # 13517845
    Anonymous member (Administrator)

    Hi all,

    It looks like this forum hasn't been used since 2024. Let's change that and get the conversations going.

    Share your biggest challenge!

    I actually have two, but I'll just share a bit, because I don't want it to be about me;

    * About 2 years ago, I realized that my paternal grandmother's parents were NOT her parents. I came to this realization through DNA ethnicity. Since then, I have been successful - thanks to Ancestry Pro AND BanyanDNA.com - in finding who her father was. I'm still working on who her mother was.

    * My other challenge, that I've been working on with two cousins, is trying to find the parents of our 3rd g-grandfather, whose name was Jacob MB Miller. Figures, huh? 

    What is YOUR biggest challenge??

    Margie Geiser
    VP Membership SDGS

Post Office Box 635057
San Diego, CA 92163

admin@casdgs.org

© San Diego Genealogical Society

Powered by Wild Apricot Membership Software