[Paslode]

Many times when I have trouble linking a person with a name, such as Pat mentioned , I find the crucial piece of information in obituaries. When searching for old obituaries you may need to tweak the name i.e. John David Jones could be J.D. Jones, John D Jones, J. David Jones and the wife is listed as Mrs. J.D. Jones, etc. Obituaries for son/daughter of said parents can be useful as well. These obituaries can also help you differentiate a child Susan Jones from another Susan Jones by providing their current residence, married name and husband.

In some states like California when a woman changes her name there can be 2 birth & marriage certificates, one with the birth name and another with the adopted or married name. This was the key to one a finished a couple weeks ago. The woman was given her mothers maiden name at birth and later took on her mothers husband name. There were 2 marriage records, one with the birth name and one with the adopted name, DOB and Date of marriage were the same.