Hello,
I have been trying to research my husband's family on his father's side. I'm starting to think my father in law's father was a ghost! I haven't been able to find any information on him through Ancestry.com or any other search engine! We have very little information that we have been able to verify and I am hoping this message board can help. My father in law grew up knowing very little about his family. His mother died in 1951 while he was at sea with the U.S. Navy. She had been remarried to a man that my father in law did not get along with. His mother told him that his father was from Ireland and was killed while he was building one of the bridges or tunnels that connect New York to New Jersey (we have no idea if this is true) while my FIL was very small or possibly before he was born in 1930 in Union New Jersey. My FIL father's name was William McDowell and we believe he was a merchant marine when he came to the U.S. My FIL's name was William Alfred McDowell. He was told he had an uncle Alfred who he was named for. My FILs mother remarried and moved to South Jersey. My FIL remembered that a man came from Ireland to visit him when he was a boy but he was too afraid of upsetting his step father to go down to the living room to meet him. He also recalled getting cards with cash in them from Ireland(?) on several occasions. In the early 50's or 60's he got a letter from a bank in Ireland that informed him of a small inheritance. He consulted an attorney and was told that it would cost more to get the money from the bank than the inheritance was worth. OF COURSE no one knows what became of the letter. It would help so much to have that information now! The only tangible clue we have is a small jewelers box that has "Agnes McDowell Jewelry & Fancy Goods 33 Royal Avenue Belfast" printed on the top. We are planning a trip to Ireland in 2024 for our 40th wedding anniversary and I would love to be able to have my husband meet some of his dad's people. Thank you so much!