Re: Im Lost and Need Help!
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In reply to:
Im Lost and Need Help!
Nicholas Strayer 7/03/07
Nicholas --
I can't provide too much help until you can get a little bit further back, to the periods I have been researching.However, I would guess, just from geography, that most likely you would eventually have come from Mathias Strayer, who has many descendants scattered across central & western Pennsylvania, especially around Johnstown.
I surmise that your grandfather was probably the William Strayer who, according to the Social Security Death Index, died on 29 December 1996 in Grapeville, Westmoreland County (not too far from Greensburg).He was born 2 Jan 1925, making him about the right age to have been the father of Joseph and Johnny Strayer (guessing, from your age, that they were born in the 1950's).
If you write to the Pennsylvania Dept. of Health, they may be able to supply you with a birth certificate for your grandfather.I would expect that it should contain the names of his parents.Information on this process is at:
http://www.dsf.health.state.pa.us/health/cwp/view.asp?a=168&Q=202219http://www.dsf.health.state.pa.us/health/cwp/view.asp?a=168&Q=202219
It's also possible that you could find the birth certificate at the Westmoreland County courthouse, if he was born in that county.I'm not all that sure about Westmoreland, but I know that in Washington County a large number of birth certificates are on file at the courthouse from the early 1900s and anyone can look at them....or at least that's how it was when I was your age and researching things of this nature a few decades ago.
I'll be interested to hear how you make out.