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Post by lchin1978 on Feb 17, 2010 22:19:19 GMT -5
My grandfather in law was born in Guangzhou, China. I don't even know his Chinese name, only his baptismal name he was given when he was in America. Also, our surname is Chin, which I'm told is extremely common lol
Any tips on how to start researching what he did when he returned to China? I'd love to find any family!
His American name is Joseph Daniel Chin Sr. He has one son who was born in the US, who is Joseph Daniel Chin jr.
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Post by helen on Feb 18, 2010 2:34:58 GMT -5
What dialect did he speak? What part of the USA? Was he in business? Who were his friends? What years are you looking at? You will have to start somewhere - so start a record on your computer - maybe a free programme like brother's keeper. Can you ask other family - where is he buried, are there chinese characters on his headstone. Let's know a bit more about the family.
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Post by harc3 on Feb 19, 2010 9:00:10 GMT -5
First of all, welcome to the forum Ichin1978
Everything Helen has said.
Believe me, it can be done. I had nothing to go on either but about a year later have a ton of info and am now going to my ancestral village to meet family. Who are just as excited as I am.
The members on the forum are a wealth of information and help. They helped me enormously to which I will always be grateful.
Libraries, archives, microfilms, immigration documents, shipping records etc is all the stuff which helped me.
oh ya ...the name thing. I always thought our surname was Chong....thru my research our surname is actually Sum (which is Shum which is Shen) It can be VERY exasperating but WELL WORTH the dedication to tracking your down history.
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jing
Member
Posts: 59
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Post by jing on Apr 12, 2010 23:41:20 GMT -5
Hi Ichin,
Ditto to Helen. Also, begin contacting your grandfather's son, and that side of the family. Ask questions about your grandfather. What was his occupation. Where did he live or where was his son born. Then, do a census search on the family, using your grandfather's name.
Jing
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Post by Henry on Apr 13, 2010 7:14:58 GMT -5
Hi IChin,
Welcome to the Forum.
Chinese characters for the names people and places are far more effective than romanized Chinese names in Chinese genealogical research.
Many romanized names were just made up according to the sound of the name and how it could be replicated in English and the actual romanized name could differ greatly. It is also very dialect dependent, there was no real standard - there are a couple different romanization systems - which most people did not know about or never used.
My suggestion is to review any and all documents, especially official ones that have to do with immigration processing, that contain Chinese characters. These Chinese may confirm or reveal the true surname of the family, as in the case of harc3 - many Chinese had purchased the papers, with different surnames, in order to enter America - assuming you live in the US.
Please check the gravestones of your ancestors and if there are inscribed Chinese characters - take a digital photo and post it on the Forum. These Chinese characters usually provide the Chinese name of the person and name of the village he came from. Once you have this information, the village can be located and the village chief can be contacted and he may be able to identify all relatives that may still live in the village and possibly find a copy of the family genealogy book. This genealogy provides historical information and documents the lineage of the family.
Henry
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