u/Sonnyjoon91

I am finally breaking down and asking for help on a brick wall in the family tree, I can only find an exact set of relatives in the 1940 New Jersey census. No other census years, or records listing them together. There are also a couple other similar people but their dates dont add up, and it looks like it has confused family trees and is making it difficult to work backwards. Any information, especially parents or birth/death/marriage records would be really helpful. Thanks for any help!

So here is what I have got:

Joseph A (possibly Aloysious) O Brien birth 8/2/1896, death 1978 New Jersey possible parents: Francis X O Brien, Mary Longworth Possible siblings: Mary A, and Margarete
in the military between August 6 1918 and September 30 1921 Ironworker maybe? Father possibly a Brass founder?
Catherine (possibly E, possibly Irene) O Brien, listed as 40 in census but death index records say birth 11/2/1904, death 1992 New Jersey Marion R, born 1927 New Jersey Joseph Jr, born 1929 New Jersey Catherine, born 1931 New Jersey Jean Ann, born 1933 New Jersey Geraldine, born 1938 New Jersey

Issues I have found: There seems to be a marriage certificate for Joseph A O Brien and Catherine Egan in 1919 in New York, but wrong parent's name for Joseph.

Another issue: I found other 1920 census records for a Joseph A O Brien and Catherine Irene or Irene Catherine O Brien in New Jersey, but again puts her age wrong at birth date 1895, and also appears on the 1940 census with Joseph A O Brien with other kids in New Jersey. Some family trees listing his marriage to Irene Catherine do list his parents of Francis X and Mary Longworth though

One of these Joseph A O Brien appears on 1900 and 1910 census records with parents of Francis X and Mary Ann with the correct age and siblings, how do you tell which one? Or are both of them the same person and he had two families in 1940? It shows they lived like 10 miles apart

Location: Utah. So this just happened and made me curious as to what our legal rights are, since we live in such chaotic times. Two police cruisers pull up and park in front of our sets of duplexes, one is a k9 unit from a couple cities over. I will mentioned the different duplexes are owned by different management companies. They stayed parked about 30-40 mins. I noticed they seemed to be running the K9 dog along people's parked cars, and along the sidewalks directly in front of their doors. And not one unit, but all of the units in all of the duplexes in the area, so about 20-24 units. If they were there to serve papers or arrest one person, which has happened before, its usually quick. This felt like they were looking to find probable cause for something, were checking tags and registration info, etc. I will also add that UT is a medical state, and my old lady neighbor smokes and I worry about her. I dont want her getting harassed over this, she isnt the only one., and she only smokes on her back porch which is also adjacent to the car port. So I'm curious as to what the legality of searches like that are? Can they really just k9 entire duplexes and parking lots looking for something? Is that profiling based on our addresses? It clearly wasnt traffic stops, they didnt seem to go to one unit with a papers or anything, just casually walking presumably drug sniffing dogs around. The obvious answer is not to do illegal stuff and I dont, all my tags are good, no warrants or tickets or even a cavity. But it was disconcerting seeing them in todays climate

NOT ASKING FOR WRITING CRITIQUE, I am looking for advice. I write short stories and have posted them online, never really had issues. I tried to start a new story, and someone got really argumentative about a single line in the chapter, because it didn't share their personal belief. I informed them that characters who actually shared their beliefs were introduced in the next chapter, and all of what they wanted to bring up would be discussed throughout the story, it is relevant to the plot so please don't spoil it for others. Asked them to please just wait at least 10 times. They continued to argue, with others saying but how would they know what is going to be discussed in the story? Isn't that the point of stories, to not know what happens next? I can't discuss everything in an intro chapter with only two characters talking but I felt pushed to reveal the entire plot prematurely to placate them. How do you handle that statement, but how would they know what is going to be discussed in the story?

I've done some pretty extensive research and got most of my genealogy back to the 1600s at least. Except a single great grandmother, 1904-1992 new Jersey. It's a mystery. I've got her birth and death date, spouse, children, locations. Dna test didn't help, doesn't show up in any family trees, census prior to marriage and children, newspapers or records as even a somewhat close match. I can find resources for someone 400 years earlier but this lady, no matches. It's like she came out of nowhere, I would think witness protection or something at this point because it feels so crazy. I recently learned that census records got destroyed for a lot of those years but really no mentions anywhere? No family tree anywhere? What do I do at this point?

Sigh. So we tried to start the latest #Letswriteamystery thread last week, Nancy Drew and the Case of the Cryptid. I posted only the first chapter, and someone decided to cause problems because I didn't mimic their opinions, loudest, in the first chapter which only featured two characters talking. Even though what they were wanting to discuss is addressed in next chapters and represented. It was incredibly discouraging. Should we even bother to continue the story at this point? Should we just let it die since posting caused drama? Should we go to Cambodia instead?

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Happy mother's day folks! Let's celebrate with a new installment of the semi annual #Letswriteamystery thread! If you don't know what these are, I write a new chapter to our story every week, and at the end of each chapter is a poll with options labeled A, B or C, since Reddit doesnt like polls on desktop. You fine readers get to vote on what happens next simply by commenting your choice, or you can add your own option and if it gets enough votes we can use that too. Each thread story is usually about 10-12 chapters long, and I post the current and previous chapter in case you missed or need a refresher on what happened last week. Unless its like this week, which is chapter one! So stay tuned for some danger, and feel free to look into completed #Letswriteamystery threads where we have gone to places like India and Morocco! Alrighty folks, are you ready? Let's get sleuthin!

“Dear Hannah…..

Spring is finally here, and you know me, always on the run! A few days ago I got a letter from an old friend, Dave Gregory. You might remember we spent some time together at Shadow Ranch on a case many years ago. Dave traded Arizona for Australia, where he now helps run a homestead called Cameron House with a seasoned station boss named Thomas Whitmoore. This isn't just any old cattle station in the Outback however, they focus on regenerative and sustainable agriculture and livestock management on over 3,000 hectares in Western Victoria. But lately, Dave says they have been seeing signs of a strange creature on the security cams, livestock going missing, and signs of predation. He couldn’t reveal more, but says if this creature is real, it could change history. He remembered how I kept a cool head when confronted with a glowing phantom horse, and wants me to join an investigative team as that same voice of reason. So off I fly to the world down under, chasing creatures that go bump in the night. Wish me luck!”