How to find parents names of my great great grandfather (not on SSN application or death certificate)?

Walton County is on the border of FL and AL. Have you looked at the FL State Archives? Also in the Counties of Covington and Geneva AL for the Rhodes Family? http://www.usgenweb.org/ In 1910 FL Walton County Limestone Twsp Census is a an Emma Simmons, widow b. 1841 in AL with a son John Rhodes b. 1877 in AL. This household in above the household of a John D Alford. Any relation to Callie? Have you found marriage license or looked at newspapers of the time for announcements? http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/ Historical Newspapers 1880 to 1922

So, I am guessing you can't find him on the 1880 census and by the 1900 he has moved out of home? Any known siblings to try and get their birth or death certs instead? BTW if you post his details here someone might be able to find some clues for you.

I haven't found anything for you so far. Besides other spellings or mis-spellings of his first name, he may have been listed in a record or 2 by his middle name, Henry. Plus, Rhodes could be mis-spelled in records: Roads, Rhoads, Rodes, etc. I'll keep on looking and add anything I may find. Another question: Was he white, mulatto (mixed African-American and white), African-American, or even native American, say Seminole? ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Added: I did find a transcription of a World War I draft registration (sometime during 1917-1918) for him (the birth date is the same.) Name: Rhodes, Fael H. (Fad) Birth date: 11 Feb 1874 Race: W [white] Location of Registration: Walton FL Source: http://files.usgwarchives.net/fl/walton/military/1917drft.txt So he was living in Walton Co., Florida in 1917 or 1918 and he was white. :-) I found a 1910 Walton Co., Florida census record for a Fadnes Rhodes, which may be him. Neither of his parents were living with the family then. His age is given as 34. The wife's name was Callie. The only F. Rhodes I find in the 1880 Florida census is a 2-year old (age is wrong, I know) nephew living with someone who may have been his mother (sister of the head of household) with his uncle (head of household) and aunt - F. S. Rhodes, white male, age given as 2, born in Fla. The sister of the head of household (possible mother of the boy, F. S. Rhodes): I'm not sure of the initials for her given names - maybe M.A., M.F., W. F. or M. T. or something else; last name Rhodes, white, age 24. They were living in the 60th census district, Hernando Co., Fla. Head of household: W. E. Hope (brother of the 24 year old female, last name of Rhodes.) This MAY or MAY NOT be a census record for young Fad Rhodes. IF it is, the person who talked to the census taker was wrong about the child's age. Source: HeritageQuest census records - through my local public library HeritageQuest database subscription This is the link to the transcribed 1880 Hernando Co., Fla. census record for 2 year old F. S. Rhodes, 24 year old M. A. Rhodes (sister to the head of household) and others - FamilySearch.org: * https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MNZ3-S3R Ancestry.com - access will be free at your local public library (probably just the main/headquarters branch) to the 1880 Fla. census, with full images of the actual census ledger page. Only a guess, right now. . . Just in case that you eventually determine that Hope was the maiden name the mother of your Fad Rhodes and the above cited census record was the one for your Fad and his mother, then . . . the mother MIGHT have been Mary Frances Hope and her brother, W.E. Hope, who MAY have been William Eston Hope, who were children of William Hope who claimed to be the first white inhabitant of what is now Hernando Co., Fla. See this web page: * http://fivay.org/hernando2.html Keep in mind that right now, this is all guessing on my part, so do not take the connection as truth until you can be sure with other verifying information. Again, in case Mary Frances Hope Rhodes was the mother of Fad, I did find added info on this Hope family, with the 1st husband of Mary Frances Hope, James M. Rhodes (d. 6 Jan 1879, Brooksville, Hernando Co., Fla., assassinated), here: * http://www.fivay.org/hernando1.html Just keep a copy of the info for future reference, in case you can verify they were your Fad's parents. More: Others may find more information for you and post it here. If not, if you have not posted your query on one of the free Rhodes surname genealogy message boards, I suggest you do: Rootsweb.com - Rhodes Family History & Genealogy * http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.rhodes/mb.ashx Genealogy.com - Rhodes Family Genealogy Forum * http://genforum.genealogy.com/rhodes/ Give the various versions of Fad's name: Fad, Fadnes, Fael (probably just a mis-transcription of Fad) in your question + all the other info you know. Make sure your query subject line is clear - something like - Parents of Fad / Fadnes Rhodes, b 1874, Walton Co., Fla. - so others who see the subject line may choose to look at your question and answer. Registration for both message boards is free. You need to be registered with Rootsweb.com & Genealogy.com to post and answer messages. Librarians--Ask Us, We Answer! Find your local Public Library at: http://www.publiclibraries.com/ Find your College/University Library at: http://lists.webjunction.org/libweb/Academic_main.html Best wishes

The first 2 places I'd look are the 1880 census and his marriage records. Also, with a name like Fad it's worth looking for alternatives Henry, Thad, Fed, Shad,Chad, etc.

just an additional tip... almost all states did not require birth certificates until ABOUT 1900. You would be paying for a SEARCH, for a record that you already know, was not needed until almost 30 yrs after his birth. For the 1800s, the norm is using alternate records. If, for some reason, he was an orphan..the most likely location would be the court documents that may have disposed of his parents property and appointed a guardian for him. Have you browsed through findagrave.com, for persons of that surname who are buried in the same county? You might stumble on someone with the last name who died prior to 1880. edit http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gsr&GScid=425566 The Rhodes family cemetery is not in Walton, but Leon county. He may tie into this family.

How strange that the names are not on the Social Security Application, having worked for Social Security one of the things that was required since the onset of Social Security (1935) has been the parents names on the application, although from when cards were first issued until the first benefits were issues, it was not enforced strictly. From 1940 on it was a strict requirement. The social security administration in a newsletter a few years back indicated that by 2010 it would have serviced 5 generations of American Citizens. I assume that you have searched the country records where you G-GF was born and have also come up empty. The reason I mention the country records, is that the internet is not an absolute reliable tool and if someone has not uploaded that information on some site you will never find it, however, the good old paper records still exist and should be available thorough the county or state where he was born. I would also not depend on Ancestry as my primary or only source, because I have found to many errors on the site. It appears that who ever is being use to transcribe records, either doesn't not have any training in the penmanship of the English, or training in how to read the writing from colonial times to the present. I have also found the trees extremely unreliable, at least in my research. Additionally I use the National Archives, the State Archives, county records, including civil and probate. Church records, records of fraternal organizations, city county directories, as well as country histories, Newspapers and any other source I can find. I know that using only a computer appears to have become the way most people research, however, I have found that a hard copy (paper copy) of records most helpful, especially when I run up against something like you have,