How can I find out who my Grandfather's Father was?

Question:

How can I find out who my Grandfather's Father was?

My grandfather doesn't have a birth certificate. And we always went by my great-grandmothers maiden name. I'm really needing to know this because I'm trying to find out how much Native American we have in our family.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Native American family history is often hard to prove. Many people who had native American blood denied their native american ancestry for fear of persecution and it hasn't been until the last few decades that people have thought it was "vogue" to be of Native american ancestry.

There are several Native American records available, but first you have to trace the ancestry you do know as far back as possible. If you can trace them back to a known area of Native American occupation, you are off to a good start in identifying which tribe, etc.

I agree with grannytoad... The death certificate is a good place to start. However, a word of caution... the death certificate is only as good as its informant. I have ordered many a death certificate where the parents information is missing or wrong.

If you get a certificate and it is missing, you might want to try to get the death certificates of his brothers and sisters if applicable. Sometimes researching siblings will yield additional information on your direct ancestor. You can try to order obituaries as well. A word on obituaries... if you are dealing with a huge city like Chicago the best you will probably find is a death notice which generally doesn't include any kind of biography....i have found that the best obituaries generally come from smaller localities where everyone knew everyone.

If your grandfather was born before 1930 you can try to locate him in as many censuses as possible. The census will show the members of his family and their ages and generally lists where they were born as well as the birthplaces of both parents. If you need a census lookup, please feel free to E-mail me via my profile. I'll be happy to help.