I have spent the last 4+ years in search of my family history on my fathers side. I have a copy of my fathers birth certificate which gives me a little information. But not enough to really get a lot of detail. My grandfather Charles William Howard was according to my fathers birth cert born in Thomaston, GA. My Father was born 07 Dec 1947
my grandfather was listed as 22 years old which puts his year of birth in 1925. I can not find a birth record on Charles, nor can I find a marriage record to my grand mother Priscill Cecela O'Brien. Priscilla's father was an Irish Machanic and a stuntman for american motion pictures in the 1930 census. Any help i can get i would be grateful for

Thanks
Daniel Bradford Howard

Since Priscilla and Charles are so young, my guess is that your father was probably their first child?

I bet they got Charles and Priscilla got married in Los Angeles county and since there is no marriage index for that time, you will have to do some footwork.

I would start at the LA county recorder office and see if they could find a marriage for them a year or two before 1947.

"For further information on vital records, please call the History and Genealogy Reference Desk at (213) 228-7400"

Thanks for the info,

Yes u are correct Bruce my father was there first child and as far as I know he was the only. I have been trying to put together a profile of Bruce containing old addresses, phone numbers, known associates, and friends. So that I may be able to get more info on the family. As the birth certificate states Charles had only been in Cali for a year and a half, where Priscilla had been there 18years. Any suggestions on how to find birth records on Charles without exact birth day and month also without mothers Madden name?

Thanks
Daniel

your best bet would be to find a marriage certificate first. it would be the easiest and I am assuming that they were married in Los Angeles County since Priscilla had been living there since 1930. call the county recorder, they might just surprise you.

It takes two to tango.

Did this marriage dissolve? Divorce? Is Priscilla still living?

If she is not living, you may be able to get divorce and marriage records, but you're dealing in relatively recent history, in genealogical terms.

I would suspect this might have been a quick marriage, if the math is correct. There is 18 months between meeting, marrying and a child. I would think the marriage would have occurred in early-mid 1847. I would also check San Diego county as well.

The City directories are going to be a source that will help you, however all years are not on-line. You track from the year and place going forward, in this case you know she lived in Long Beach in 1847. Data in City directories are a year behind publish date.

The California Voter Registrations db is on-line (Ancestry.com). This is another source to track movement.

You're dealing with extremely common names, all this takes a good deal of time to sift though.

I would suspect the O'Brien clan may have been Catholic? Find the nearest church to where the bride's family was living in 1947. Look for a baptismal record and then back into looking for a marriage record. If you know any siblings of Priscilla, that might help pinpoint locations.

I see you have a census attached to Charles W Howard in your tree for a supposed family of Charles W Howard.

Sometimes you have to blow out all the possibilities, ruling out who it can't be is as important as who it might be.

I would follow that family and see where is takes you. Siblings flocked together. The eldest child (David L) of that Howard family ended up in California, his death record says the mother's maiden was Burke.

About the data re: Charles William Howard on birth cert. You don't know if the info about him was given by him, it may have been given by Priscilla, and they didn't know one another that long. His place of birth in Georgia may be inaccurate, to the best of what she knew. Perhaps it was the last place in Georgia he lived before heading west.

I would be searching the Georgia two counties, found in the 1920 and 1930 Census first. google "vital records" the county name and state. Most have detailed info on how to obtain (and what you can obtain) a vital record. You can also post on those county message boards for someone to do a look-up. Some county seats have liberal access to snoop around the vital records.

Provide as much detailed info as you think you know. He may have had siblings, this is important info for others that can help to know, post all pieces of the puzzle, assertions and assumptions.

Finding an SSDI record for him, and he may not be deceased, is unlikely without his birth date.

One question: Who was your father raised by?

Not related.

AccountManager

I can only assume by Charles and Priscilla but as I had heard Bruce was disowned by Charles!

Priscilla O'Brien Howard remarried December 16, 1967 to Edward P. Pearce In Los Angeles City. She was 39 at the time and he was 28. Is Edward Pearce familiar to you?

Do you have any ideas when (at what age) Bruce was disowned by Charles?

AccountManager

In the Ancestry.com database World War II Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard Casualties, 1941-1945, on page 24 for Georgia, under “Wounded,” is this entry:

“HOWARD, Charles W., Pfc, USMC. Father, Mr. David L. Howard, 104 Pine St., Thomaston.”

Looks as if your grandfather was a Marine in WWII. I don't see a WWII draft card for him in Ancestry though.

Going to the 1930 census, you find the family of David L. Howard in Cane Creek, Walker Co., GA. In the census, it's on E.D. No. 148-9, Sheet No. 2B, handwritten 4801. The family looked like this:

David L Howard 32
Gaynell Howard 28
David L Howard 11
Dorothy E Howard 9
James R Howard 6
Charles W Howard 4 5/12
Julius F Howard 1 6/12

Everyone was born in GA except father David, who was born in AL along with his parents. David was a “loom fixer” in a cotton mill (interesting). Anyway, this doesn't tell you much about your grandfather's life, but I believe this was his family.

Assuming the information above is 100% correct with out any room for error. Then I have the theory that Priscilla may have divorced Charles because charles was abusive after he become wounded. Bruce was an abusive man and that is a trate that is learned from someone else. Based on that marriage date bruce would have been 20 years old which would fit the profile. All the info I have got thus far is due to extensive research and people at genforum. My father was a lier a drunk which never talked about his mother or father.

thanks
Daniel