Adoption Case Solved without the Help of DNA
A client recently expressed to me a wish to know more about her grandfather’s family. Her grandfather had been adopted and the family knew very little about his roots. At the time of the initial consultation with the client and her mother via Zoom, I asked the client whether she wished to know more about her grandfather’s adoptive family or his biological family. “Well, both.” She replied. Neither his social nor biological family history were well-known, but the family had the sense that the story of his early years prior to his adoption may not have been a happy one. They often wondered about this.
My experience with adoption cases from mid-20th century America is that most often adoptions were closed and the court records sealed -- if the adoption was handled in courts. Prior to this time, informal adoptions where a family member or friend took in a child were not uncommon. In such a scenario, court records would not even exist. But, for a child who was legally adopted, that child would likely have been furnished a birth certificate stating his date of birth, his adoptive parents’ names and little else.[1] Sealed court records even today often provide hurdles to adoptees who want to learn the identities of their biological parents.[2] So, when my client, the grandchild of the adoptee, said she wanted to know about her grandfather’s biological parents, I didn’t hold much hope that the case could be solved without the help of DNA testing.
However, we got lucky. Really, really lucky. We found the biological family in the records.
[The records referred to below are detailed in an 11-page report prepared by the researcher for the client and privately held by both parties. For privacy reasons, the exact records are omitted from this post].
1. I asked a lot of questions.
The client and her mother said they knew next to nothing about the grandfather’s origins, but as we conversed, two key two pieces of information came to light that helped solve the case in a relatively short amount of time. First, the client’s mother believed she knew the surname (though not the spelling) of the grandfather’s biological parents. Second, though not certain, she thought the grandfather’s adoption took place when he was 5 or 6 years of age.
Genealogists conduct interviews all the time. As you find time to speak with older relatives about your ancestors, ask good questions! Record the information you learn. The smallest clues can end up being the difference between a solved case and brick wall.
2. I started with what I knew.
In this case, before I could begin searching for the adoptee’s parents, I had to know more about him. A detailed obituary provided a great starting point for research. His obituary stated he was born in 1908. This was the first great research clue beyond the those already provided to me by my client. Why? Because if this person was adopted as young child (as his family suspected), it is possible he was enumerated in the 1910 census (at the age of 2) with his biological family.
The golden rule of genealogy research -- before beginning the search for previous generations, learn more about those whose identities you already know. Exactly when was that person born? Where did they live and when? Who were the siblings, aunt/uncles/cousins, neighbors, associates?
3. I followed the relatives.
After I formed the hypothesis that the person of interest may have been living with his biological family in the 1910 census, I conducted a search for that family surname in the area he claimed as his hometown. Even though the client did not know the spelling of the surname, this had little bearing on my research. Name spellings are rarely consistent in historical records. The name was not a difficult one to spell phonetically, and a search for the name as it sounded proved “good enough” to produce quality hits.
The search pulled up a few hits for a specific family of the correct surname in the that county in 1920. I could see right away that the head of household and his wife would have been the correct age to be the parents of my person of interest. However, the family was already large, with children seemingly born to the parents every 18 months. It seemed doubtful this was the correct family, but not impossible. Even if this was not the family for which I was searching, they could be relatives. So, I followed this family in the records. I found them in 1910 living in Michigan.
Never overlook relationships in family research. If you are not sure where your ancestor resided in a given year, look for the family. The records left by family members can lead your to your ancestor.
4. I searched the census for neighbors.
The 1910 census record showed the family living in Michigan. Again, they seemed unlikely to be the parents of my client’s grandfather. But, as any seasoned genealogist knows, because families often lived near each other, I looked at the families enumerated in the census around this family. Sure enough, just one line down on the same page, the enumerator recorded another family with the same surname – a brother as it turned out. And there, I found my client’s grandfather, age 2, enumerated with his biological father and three brothers. Further research proved without a doubt I had found the correct family:
· The biological father’s 1959 obituary named his son living in Sandusky, Ohio. Two newspaper articles proved my client’s grandfather was living in Sandusky in 1959. Clearly, the father and son enjoyed a relationship even after the adoption took place.
· The biological family of the person of interest, though living in Michigan in 1910, had roots in the same county where the person of interest grew up with his adoptive family. In fact, other records showed the biological father moved back to that same county sometime after 1910.
· The noticeable absence of the children’s mother from the 1910 census spurred further research. Records revealed her residence in a hospital for the mentally ill which may at least partially explain the sad nature of the family story.
Whenever I take a look at a new census record, I try to avoid the temptation to rush through the information to find the next record. I like to transcribe ALL the census data into an Excel spreadsheet. This way, not only will I learn the information better, but a typed spreadsheet is much easier to refer back to then a small, handwritten census entry. After I have transcribed a few census records, my spreadsheet takes on the role of timeline to which I can keep adding records as I find them. Also, whenever I look at a census record, I look at least the 10 households below the family for which I am searching and the 10 households above. One will often find family or associates referenced in other records who are your ancestor’s neighbors.
Although many adoption cases are not solved without the help of DNA thanks to sealed or non-existent court records, some adoption cases -- with a little luck and good methodology -- can be solved with traditional “paper-trail” research alone. My recent client case provides one such example, as well as a very rewarding research outcome for both the client and the researcher.
[1] For closed adoptions and birth certificate issuance, Personal knowledge of the author, Laura Scalzitti [historyrunner17@gmail.com]. Scalzitti has seen documents relating to a close family member’s adoption. Also, Richard Hill, Finding Family (Sanger, CA: Familius LLC),2017. For informal adoptions see Judy G Russell, “Chasing Adoptions,” posted 22 November 2016, The Legal Genealogist (https://www.legalgenealogist.com/2016/11/22/chasing-adoption-records/ : accessed 25 August 2020).
[2] The DNA detectives Facebook group is full of adoptees who are trying to identify their adoptive parents. In many cases, the adoption records are sealed. See DNA Detectives, Facebook group online (https://www.facebook.com/groups/DNADetectives/ : accessed 25 August 2020).