At long last, I‘m pretty sure I’ve figured out a bunch of oddball birth records I keep tripping over in documenting C3 lineage - my G0’s dad has a small herd of double cousins. So the G -2 (?) and his brother married sisters in Sorel, Quebec in the 1830s and started having kids. At some point G -1’s uncle and his family moved to Ontario. My G0 was born in Sorel as well, before his parents moved the family briefly to *the same place in Ontario* (where two sisters were born) before continuing on to Detroit.

Needless to say, the kids are all of an age and have *so* many of the same names - specifically, my G -1 has the same first name as his uncle (of the double cousins) and my G0 has a grandfather, uncle, and I think second cousin all with the same first name. The paternal last name is fairly unusual - easy to find the whole herd on Genealogique Quebec when adding “Sorel” as the place name. (The maternal last name is also Scottish - more common, but a little more unusual in Quebec.)

I know multiple generations with the same name is common, but is it worth formally explaining there are double cousins in both Quebec and Ontario? And if so, is there a standard? Mostly asking because it confused the hell out of me for a solid month - and I knew who I was looking for. Thanks!

Searched all over the place for all kinds of records, and found G0, his dad (and a whole other herd of people) in a Detroit Newspaper:

“BEFORE JUDGE G—— Pikachu Sr., Pikachu Jr.,… admitted to citizenship. XX, 1888”

I know *nothing* about how this worked at this time - anyone tell me where I’d go next? (Haven’t seen anything on FamilySearch or Ancestry, but might not be looking in the right place.) Thanks!

Lansing sent back a ‘can’t find it’ for a marriage record and asked if I wanted to pay $12 for another year. Fortunately, I found an image of the affidavit from 1895 on FamilySearch and emailed it to them along (after calling) along with some clarification - Mrs. G0 had used Lizzie instead of Elizabeth, so I thought maybe that was the problem. This was a clear image, with the record number, which I made sure to copy into the email with the rest of the information.

Now they’ve sent back a second ’can’t find it’ paper, still asking if we want to pay an additional $12 for a different year (despite 1895 being clearly written on the affidavit). FamilySearch has marriage affidavits, certificates, indexes, and licenses and I’ve found the same record number on both the index and license line entries. One of them transcribed Mr. G0’s name incorrectly when they copied it *and* the FM certificate file has a several year gap that jumps right over 1895 and into the 1900s.

Are either of these reasons I can find the record and they can’t? The year and number are consistent on all of them. Are there really no certificates for those years? Do I just send all three photocopies back to them with a $12 check and Mrs. G1’s name circled and written in sharpie? The clerk who did the affidavit and one line entry has incredibly distinct and florid cursive - and L’s - that look exactly like S’s to me, and I’m old and grew up with cursive. The records don’t really seem to be digitized on FM - but you can search for her name and birthdate, and at least one will pop right up.

Personally, I’d be fine with a certified copy of the affidavit - it’s super clear and long form - as long as you realize that Mrs. G0’s first name is “Lizzie“ and not “Siggie”, lol. But I don’t think that’s a choice. I would *really* like a copy of this record. I’ve had to start from scratch with a different side of the family and celebrated the 4th by ordering G0’s baptismal from BAnQ, but there’s a bit of pick-a-first-name going on with him and his parents.

Just trying to figure out how to tackle this and why the license number and a picture aren’t enough for them to go on. (Including, they ignored the mail attachments, can’t read cursive, and the mistranscribed name stuck). I did send a request to Wayne as well, but it’s not going to do me much good if there‘s something inherently wrong.

Thanks everyone. Sorry so long - typing while tired and trying to figure out who gets to help take 6 yr old great-nephew in for broken arm surgery Wednesday. He’s one of the reasons I’m sticking with this.

Crossposting from the citizenship Tuesday thread - I’ve read the FAQs and am still confused.

My ancestor was baptized at St Pierre in Sorel. Tried following the BAnQ guide, but “au Greffe de Sorel” isn‘t a branch. Trois Rivières and Montreal look the closest, geographically, but using car/ferry directions, there’s only an 11k difference from each to Sorel-Tracy.

Does anyone happen to know which location to request records from? I can’t figure out how they split them up. The Genealogique Quebec records list:

MRC: Pierre-De Saurel Region: Montérégie

and

Quebec / Fonds Drouin / S / Sorel / Sorel (St-Pierre) / 1850 / 1857

Thanks! Probably missing something incredibly obvious, but will take any help I can get.

Does anyone know how complete birth certificate records are for 1917 Wayne county Michigan?

3+ mos into waiting for Lansing to find a River Rouge 1917 birth record. (I sent a direct request to Wayne county a couple weeks ago.) His SS lists River Rouge, though he seemed to alternate writing that or Detroit.

Just trying to figure out if birth certificates from then were:

1. really well established and it's just a matter of time/information

2. well established in some areas (like Detroit proper), but some gaps

3. hit or miss all over the place

C3 stuff, and I just don't know much about River Rouge - which I think was Ecorse for my 1898 G1. I've been trying to prep around probably not finding her, but will there be an assumption that 1917 definitely exits?

Not a question; hopefully okay place to post potentially helpful PSA:

NOTICE

Notice: The FOIAXpress Public Access Link (PAL) through which you may electronically submit FOIA requests to SSA will be down on Wednesday, May 27, 2026, from 4am EST through 12pm EST, for an upgrade. Once the upgrade is complete, the PAL web address will change. To access the PAL following the upgrade, please visit https://securefoia.ssa.gov.

I’ve been using NARA’s Access to Archival Database for Social Security SS-5 and death documentation, but when I went to order an official copy (there’s a weird dual-name situation), could NOT get provided link through the Social Security FOIAXpress to work. https://www.ssa.gov/foia/request.html

Finally found this rando notice, which took me to a page that actually worked. So if you’re trying to order *official* Social Security information (vs. Ancestry, FamilySearch, or NARA’s online archives) and have been stymied by broken links, this might be your answer. Hope it helps!

So, I'm apparently not allowed to ask how to balance college transfer application while getting ready to apply for C3 on the canadian citizenship side - they sent me here. None of the stupid flair is right for this either.

Daughter (smart, autistic, engineering student) was planning to transfer out of the U.S. to Dundee in Scotland. But various financial issues have made that untenable. I've been gathering documentation for C3 application and have moved to filling things out (Michigan...). She needs out of the U.S. - her sustainable energy focus is being systemically killed off. (Also not great for autistic females who require adhd meds to function.)

She's way past deadlines, but I wanted to contact schools and see if she could apply for mid-year transfer or something. How does that all work with C3 application? Do we talk to them the engineering departments about citizenship by descent? We didn't know about the new ruling until a few months ago, so she didn't apply then. Do we put off C3 until we figure out a plan? Apply as soon as we can and then attempt to change her to urgent if she gets in? Write an addendum to the C3 application?

She was smart enough to be accepted to Cardiff and Dundee, and is about to graduate with her engineering transfer AA, but (despite living close to the border) I don't know much about the Can-College ecosystem.

tyI think our C3 claim is pretty solid - I'm G4 and she's G5 - grandfather's whole family came from Canada - but I know things don't move very quickly. And I'm not sure how trying to start two application rabbits at once is supposed to work - I don't want to mess up our C3 because autistic son also needs out 😑.

Any advice would be helpful.

Pretty much what it says on the tin. A lot of Michigan records seem to be online; if my obsessive research (and some of the names are fairly uncommon) can’t find a trace of them, what are the odds Lansing will? Do they have a bunch of records from 1898 - 1917 that haven’t been uploaded to the big sites? Are they constantly digitizing and uploading more? (I wonder the same about Ontario.)

I have spent probably 80+ hrs intensively digging into FamilySearch and Ancestry, as well as every relevant digital archive, newspaper archive, historical society, and church in Ontario and Michigan I could find. I’m new to genealogy, but not research, and have obsessively sorted for dates, regions, and name variants; wildcard searched *absolutely* everybody; reconstructed timelines; made maps, and generally engaged in a two-month digital research orgy.

And then celebrated by just reading page after page of likely digital entries, hoping to hit it lucky. I have found *so* many records. But not my great-grandmother’s 1898 River Rouge, Michigan birth record. Nor my grandfather’s 1917 River Rouge/Detroit birth record. I ordered records from the state almost 3 months ago. (The only mail I’ve had was to say they couldn’t find the one marriage record I knew existed - because I’d already found it under a name variant.) Mostly I want to know if I should just keep waiting, or try to work with what I have, and was hoping for some insight.

PSA, not a question - we've take another archdiocese down: https://www.aod.org/office-of-archives

"Due to current staffing, the Archives Office cannot fill genealogical requests, including records relating to proof of citizenship requests, in a timely manner. There is presently an up to six-month delay, and we cannot receive new requests at this time. We will reopen our genealogical request service on July 1, after which time we can provide an estimated time for completing requests, which we anticipate will continue to involve a significant waiting period. "

And I thought I'd found a work around for Vitalcheck/Wayne county slowness and the London archdiocese up in Ontario. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Not a question, just a potentially useful resource for people sourcing marriage records from Washington State. I’d seen some potentially long wait times on the DOH site and questionable county websites, but eventually found this:

https://digitalarchives.wa.gov/

Turns out there are digital archives, and for $5 I was able to order a certified digital copy of a marriage certificate I needed! I had no idea this was a thing, but if someone else needs a marriage certificate from the Evergreen State, this is probably the easiest way to go. (Birth Certificates still require ID, though.)