I have half brothers born in Chicago IL and I need help finding them

[Megbaby0506]

I have two half brothers that was born in Chicago IL, this is from my father. I know their mothers first names and one maiden name to one but the other one was married and I only have her married last name. I have tried everything I know my half brothers first names and the years they was born. What else can I do I have not been able to find anything. Please help, I don't know what else to do.

[Rosinish]

Hi & welcome to rootschat 

Do you have the years of birth & forenames of your brothers or was your father not in touch with either of them or their parents?

I would imagine the woman who was unmarried would have registered the birth in her own maiden name & likewise for the married woman, the birth registered in her marital surname.

Did your father tell you what districts the boys were born & were they both in the same district?

I have no idea how the law works in Chicago but in Scotland we can visit the General Register Office to look up births (at a cost).

Is there somewhere you can do those look-ups or get someone to do them for you if you have enough info?

I will just remind you, no living people's details can be given on forum but after 3 posts you can co-operate with others via Personal Message.

Annie

[brigidmac]

Genes reunite d has a section for looking for living relatives i think this site is used less and less but if you go on the page you can get some good advice

Also you can see if anyone has looked for these people before ....

You don't have to join ....Click on community pages
Then find living relatives ' you will see the latest posts and can read them but only members can search

Down the side is a quick search ....You can only put one word but if you put the surname in you may find others
Looking for those families ....Or at least find other ways people have looked


The advance search option doesn't work

http://www.GenesReunited.co.uk/boards/board/living_relatives/thread/1287449


Good luck with your search  B

[aghadowey]

Welcome to Rootschat  This isn't a forum for tracing living relatives but we can certainly give you information and suggestions. There are two topics in Help pages-

You can find some tips for searching for living people on these RootsChat topics:
RootsChat Topic: Searching for living relatives and Rootschat
RootsChat Topic: Tracing Living Relatives

Here's official advice from the State of Illinois-
Birth records are not public records in Illinois and very few people are entitled to receive copies of them.
http://www.dph.illinois.gov/topics-services/birth-death-other-records
clicking on the link gives more details-
Birth records are not public records and only the following are entitled to receive certified copies:
+ Person named on the record if 18 years of age or older
+ Parent(s) shown on the record
+ Legal guardian or legal representative of the child. Written evidence or guardianship or legal representation is required.

[Megbaby0506]

This website is not easy, if I click on the searching for living relatives and roots chat, it does not give me the a way to write a new form.

[aghadowey]

This website is not easy, if I click on the searching for living relatives and roots chat, it does not give me the a way to write a new form.

The links I posts are for Help topics- not ones where you ask for information.

Your success, or lack of it, may depend on how uncommon the names are and if you have an exact date of birth. Bear in mind they might have been adopted by a stepfather or changed their surnames for other reasons. Even though your father knows about them they may not know any details.

Would your father be able to provide any addresses for when he knew the mothers or when the boys were born?

[shellyesq]

The first thing I would do in your situation is to try to determine if the half-brothers or mothers are deceased.  You can check the Social Security death index here - https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1202535 - or at Ancestry.com.  (Ancestry is a subscription site, but depending on where you live, some public libraries will provide free access to it for their patrons.)  The Social Security death index doesn't have 100% of deceased people in the US, but it is a large database.  There are Chicago-specific sites with deaths that can be checked here - http://www.deathindexes.com/illinois/cook.html  Searching Chicago newspaper archives might also help.  The Chicago Tribune is one of the largest newspapers in that area - http://archives.chicagotribune.com/

If you don't find anything there, I would check the US Public Records database, which can be searched here - https://familysearch.org/search/collection/2199956 - or on Ancestry.com. 

If any of the folks in question were alive as of 1940, you could check for them on the 1940 census on familysearch.org and try to search for deaths/obituaries for their relatives, which could give you more clues about where they later went.

Another option you might want to consider is autosomal DNA testing, which could potentially provide you with matches who are related to you.  If these half-brothers were interested in finding family members, they may have tested.  I am an adoptee & successfully found my birthfather's family through Ancestry DNA testing.

[Megbaby0506]

So what I do know is that they are not dead the mothers or the sons. True some stepfather could have giving them their last name. but one was born in 1986 the other was 1977 around in the summer but I only know the years that is it I know the hospital they was born in. I believe one still stays in Chicago ford heights IL. That is all that my dad knows. he do know the mothers first name and one of the mothers surname.

[Megbaby0506]

And he don't know any address to the houses that they stayed in he only know the streets they stayed on.