Sometimes I find a blog posting that I wish I had written.
Here is one on “How To” use the search options on Google and other search sites.
I’ve learned so much from this one little posting that I will have to take time off from my regular work to play with all the options Judith Lewis mentions in her posting. The majority of the commands come from: Common Google Search Operators by Roger Warner.
I knew I could search the Google News Archive newspapers using this command:
George site:news.google.com/newspapers
That search will give me Google News Archive results for any article that had the word George in the newspaper.
I hope the re-blog of the very thorough “How To” posting will help you in your search for … everything.
https://bynd.com/news-ideas/google-advanced-search-comprehensive-list-google-search-operators/
Thank You.
Jose from Clarkston, Michigan
Genealogical Collection 
Very helpful–thanks!
Thanks for this!
Hello! Your site has been a very useful resource. 🙂 I could use some advice. I have recently found out when my paternal grandfather died and the names of his parents. That information led me to place of birth and residence prior to 1942 when he married and moved to my paternal grandmother’s state and lived there until around the 1950s. They presumably divorced at some point and he ended up back in his birth state. I have his military WWII information and enlistment card which I confirmed by address and serial number. I also know exactly where he’s buried in a National veteran’s cemetary. And here is the brick wall. I can’t find him or his parents on any census in that state except for one really odd entry that’s a “maaaaaybe”. I have tried searching by last known address page by page, but it’s an apartment building with a long list of names that don’t match his surname. I’m having trouble searching by address in the NY city directories. He passed in 2005, but I’ve found no online obituaries. Any idea of where I can find some breadcrumbs?
Yes I think I can help but I will need more information. P-Grandfather Name, Birthdate, Deathdate and his parents Names, Birthdates, Deathdatedates. P-Grandmother’s home location for 1940/50’s His birth state. I will treat it like some obit I’ve found in a newspaper and start a tree for him and from there I should be able to get clues and more records. All the info I ask for would appear in an obit so if you write an obit of him then you should be able to write down all the info that you would like to see in his obit. While I am working up the tree and info you can look at this New York web page that I’ve used for NY people — http://www.fultonhistory.com/fulton.html
Thanks for posting the question it sounds like a good mystery for me to work on.
Samuel Davis born August 17, 1920 died January 12 2005. New York, New York. Parents Clarence Davis and Stella MacIntyre. Married Gertrude Cruz (later remarried name Fermino) in 1942 in New Bedford, Ma. She was born Jun 3, 1917 and died Jun 6 2006. Samuel enlisted in the nyc national guard and later recruited to the army for WWII. I do not know his parents birth or deaths, it’s why I have been trying to find Samuel on a Census or city directory before 1942. Thanks for any leads you can point me to. I’ve gone cross eyed from looking at so many records.
Thank You for the obit.
I converted it to a text file.
This is exactly what I would do with a newspaper, FindAGrave, or blog obit that I found.
I will create a tree with this information and then start a folder called “Samuel Davis obit Jan 2005 – NY” where I will put everything about this obit.
I will send you updates on the tree and eventually put you on the tree as editor so you can see all the records we found.
Thank You again.
================
text from Samuel Davis obit
Samuel Davis
age 85
born: 17 Aug 1920
in:
died: 12 Jan 2005
in: NY, New York
father: Clarence Davis
mother: Stella Macintyre Davis
wife: Gertrude Cruz
married in 1942 New Bedford, Ma
divorced:
wife 2: Fermino
Gertrude
born: 03 Jan 1917
died: 06 Jun 2006
Samuel military:
enlisted in NYC National Guard
later recruited to Army
served in WWII
===============
you can E Mail Me
naujelyk at aol dot com
Just to clarify that Fermino is Gertrudes second married name (not a second wife). It’s just sometimes records might appear for her as “Fermino” and I wanted you to know its the same person.
Just to clarify: Fermino is Gertrude’s second married name — not a second wife to Samuel. Sometimes the hints on ancestry come up with Fermino and I wanted you to know it was the same person.
Okay, This is the update I told you I would send. From here on out I will only send you completed update that is I will work until I can not find anything else and then I will send you (either here or by e-mail) all the information I was able to find. These will be text files of all the records and screen prints of items I thought needed a screen print.
Thank You.
===
History of Tree
I put in Samuel’s name and abt 1920 abt 2005 NY. then his fathers name Clarence Davis.
I gave the tree a name: Samuel Davis obit Jan 2005 – NY – Family Tree
Right off the bat I got a hint for Samuel his SS death record.
I took that hint and put it on the tree.
I then added his mother name: Stella Macintyre
When I did that I got leaf’s (hints) for father and mother, plus some new hints for Samuel.
father has two hints:
1. 10 Trees are already on Ancestry with these names
2. SS Death
mother has one hint:
1. 2 trees are already on Ancestry with these names
Samuel has four hints:
1. 2 trees are already on Ancestry with these names
2. US Dept Vet
3. US Vet Gravesite
4. US FindAGrave index
============================
One more thing: I do not take any of the tree hints. That is I do not accept any information off of the Family Trees that are given as hints, because they could have errors in the records. I only view the tree info for clues.
One of those is very likely my tree.
Thank You. I figured as much but I wanted to continue as if I didn’t know anything except what was in the obit. I noticed that Gertrude was the one who remarried. I did find a Gertrude Davis on Find A Grave buried at the same cemetery born 1917 died 1988 Memorial# 4020506 but that is all they have about her. When I find a person on Find A Grave I usually click on the left hand link that says view all “Davis” in cemetery, county, state…. I figure if a person is buried there then maybe others of the family are also there. I get pretty good results; either more people or none in that cemetery, county opens up to other cemeteries and there I might find a relative.
The reason you could not find him in the 1940 city directory is because New York state, New York county does not have a dir for 1940. They have 1933 then jump to 1948 then to 1953. Prior to 1933 they had almost every year. Now that is just the collection that Ancestry.com has so maybe someone else has other years. I tried looking for family in FamilySearch but did not find any good leads. I only looked at the first page so maybe there is a record where they messed up the spelling and that shows up on page 11 or 23. Normally at this point I would update the text file of the obit and put in a link to the tree I created and then send a copy of the information to all the trees who have the same family. Of course some of the hints may not be our family so we don’t send the stuff to them. I would then close up the folder and move on to some other tree or write up a post for the blog if I found something useful in the tree (a lesson for my readers). However with your tree here I will play around some more and see if I can find anything new.
Oh, the Getrude in my family lived in the same state all her life. She isn’t buried in New York.
Oh, that’s a good tip on Find A Grave!
Okay here is the latest; however it is not much:
There are 11 tree hints for Clarence but none except yours matches my tree.
There are 2 tree hints for Estella McIntyre one is you and the other is Ashlee Andrade and she does not have much on her tree. She also has not been on Ancestry for over a year; however I did find her name on FB. I sent her a message with a picture of her tree and asked her if she had made that tree. Let’s hope she replies with a YES or NO, either way we have crossed off a clue.
There are 2 tree hints for Samuel. One is yours the other is Ashlee.
Maybe this Ashlee will turn out to be a relative… or You… I just thought of that. I don’t know your name. LOL
What is your tree name?
I found something new:
1930 United States Federal Census
Name: Samuel Davis
Birth Year: abt 1921
Gender: Male
Race: Negro (Black)
Birthplace: New York
Marital Status: Single
Relation to Head of House: Son
Home in 1930: Manhattan, New York, New York
Map of Home: View Map
Street address: West 115th Street
Block: E.
House Number in Cities or Towns: 207
Dwelling Number: 67
Family Number: 425
Attended School: Yes
Able to Read and Write: Yes
Father’s Birthplace: North Carolina
Mother’s Birthplace: North Carolina
Able to Speak English: Yes
Household Members:
Name Age
Estelle Davis 42
Phynia Glee 22
Samuel Davis 9
Davis-Sparling is my tree name. i have that particular record from 1930 in my shoe box as my “maaaaaybe” 🙂 I have no idea how to confirm it though. Phynia…that’s a particular stumper.
Here is what I found in City Dir —
U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995
New Bedford, Massachusetts
===============
1939
Samuel not on this City Dir
=================================
U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995
New Bedford, Massachusetts
1940
New Bedford, Massachusetts, City Directory, 1940
107 of 556
Davis
” Samuel emp Hood’s Dairy r258 Coffin av
==================================
U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995
New Bedford, Massachusetts
1941
New Bedford, Massachusetts, City Directory, 1941
130 of 629
Davis
” Samuel emp Hood’s Dairy r64 Mill
==================================
U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995
New Bedford, Massachusetts
1943
New Bedford, Massachusetts, City Directory, 1943
134 of 241
Davis
” Samuel S (Gertrude) USA r217 Pleasant
==================================
U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995
New Bedford, Massachusetts
1945
New Bedford, Massachusetts, City Directory, 1945
145 of 643
Davis
” Samuel S (Gertrude) USA r217 Pleasant
==================================
U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995
New Bedford, Massachusetts
1947
New Bedford, Massachusetts, City Directory, 1947
171 of 679
Davis
” Samuel S (Gertrude) mill opr r217 Pleasant
==================================
U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995
New Bedford, Massachusetts
1949
New Bedford, Massachusetts, City Directory, 1949
155 of 713
Davis
” Samuel S (Gertrude) lab Fisk Mill r217 Pleasant
==================================
1952
Samuel not on this City Dir
==============================
Yes, that’s all him. As for New york prior to 1942 for Samuel, Clarence, or Stella it’s a ghost town. It’s driving me a little crazy. Thanks for all your help and your efforts. I think what is working against finding these people is that Samuel was born after 1915 so no birth record. I’m guessing Samuel’s parents died before 1940 and he might have had his Army mail sent to relatives. What is a head scratcher is that his SSDI lists them as in “household” in 1939. But that might be an error and that might just be a transcription of parents names put in the household spot. My husband’s side of the tree is the Griswold family tree — it lights up with hints almost constantly. Makes me want to scream with how easy his connections are made. LOL. Ohioans are serious about their family trees!
The city dir for New York are just business not people. I looked at a couple of them and it was all commercial. I will play with it from time to time as I think of some new avenue to walk down.
One thing you could do is get on the closed FB group pages such as “Genealogy I need help” https://www.facebook.com/groups/149564361886529/ or “Genealogy” https://www.facebook.com/groups/genealogyone/ or “Genealogy Greenwalt” https://www.facebook.com/groups/genealogyone/ and see if they might be able to help with finding records.
Thanks a bunch!