Locating relatives

I am hoping that someone can advise me on how to locate the nearest living relative of a WWI aviator. On the pilot bio pages there are references on how to purchase birth and death records. Is that the most productive way? I am not opposed to paying but would like to know the best method. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Ken

[frontflieger]

Hi

who are you searching for? In the US?

Thorsten

Hi Ken,

Does he show up on the Social Security Death Index? That would tell you where he was living. Where you go from there depends upon how unusual the name is, and how much you know about him and his family. Some creative googling can produce miraculous results. You could also post queries on genealogy message boards for the surname. Go to www.rootsweb.com for those and for the SSDI.

Peggy

Peggy,
Thanks for the help. I am trying to locate a relative of Frederic Ives Lord, an American who flew for the British 79th Squadron in WWI.

Hi Ken,

OK. I see about 3 Frederick Lords on the SSDI who were born early enough. I don't know anything about when your man was born or where he was from. Does any of them look right to you?

Peggy

[Frank_Olynyk]

Ken,
Follow the link in your post #4 to the entry for Lord in the aces section of the Aerodrome. You will find the basic information about him there. Once you have his date of death, you can look him up in the California Death Index online.

Frank.

Hi again Ken,

So he was right here on The Aerodrome. Amazing! Reckon you could try to get his obit, or see who was the informant on the death cert. I did some googling to see if I could find anything else. (Forgive me if I'm telling you stuff you already know. While hoping to get help, I try to cast my bread upon the waters and help someone else. <g>)

A Frederick Lord is said to have flown for the Loyalists in Spain. See this page: http://jnana.wikinerds.org/index.php/Eddie_August_Schneider
and this message thread: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/message/an/surnames.schneider/1561

Also found: Cross & Cockade International Journal, Number 4, "Capt Frederick Ives Lord: Texas Air Ace and Soldier of Fortune :JJ Hudson."

Hope that helps provide clues,

Peggy

Everyone,
Thanks for the help, it's good to know that there are a lot of helping hands out there! Everything you told me I had already located, in fact I've got historical societies in Wisconsin (place of birth) and California (where he died) looking for articles and information. It seems as if Ancestor.com has a lock on everthing. Again, thanks for the input, every piece of information is important and opens up doors to more.
Peggy, the Schneider site, I couldn't get anything on Lord to show up?
Ken

Ken, just click on the Spanish Civil War chapter. There is more detail, but not more about Lord, in the 2 messages in the thread at the other URL. There was nothing helpful in that journal article, huh? Have you been in touch with the author?

I don't see much that is locked up that would help. The CA death index has 21 Jul 1967, San Bernardino, mother's maiden name Miller. He is probably the Frederick, age 12, living with grandfather Fred Meuller, 68, Carpenter, born Germany, in Manitowoc, Wisc in 1910. Can't find him in 1920 or 1930. I don't know if California had a state census on the 5's. You could check that easily online. If so, later years might be available.

A murder should have made the papers, and might have resulted in a detailed unpaid obit. I'd be trying for that, and my first shot would be a local library. "Librarians are the Secret Masters of the Universe." And they can be incredibly helpful. I'd also go for the death cert to see if he was married, who the informant was, and where he was buried. There might be other family burials in the same cemetery, and records at the cemetery (who owns the deed, pays for maintenance?) or funeral home.

Regards,

Peggy

Peggy,
Once again thank you. The information on the grandfather confirms the Meuller/Miller question. I have written the San Bernardino library and genealogical society seeking information about Frederick Lord or his wife Mildred. I have the court records about his death and a lady at the Apple Valley newspaper is researching '67 articles. I have a pretty good time line on him, articles he published but no listing of children or other relatives.
Ken