Mystery Military: George D Russell from World War II

I am looking for George D Russell.

The only information I started with was his Army Serial Number from World War II, 32960000, and last known address in the Forest Hills section of Queens, New York at 100-35 72nd Road.

From there, I found that George was born about 1914. He enlisted in the Army in May of 1943 in New York City. He was discharged in 1946.

The Army Serial Number was correct (see images from Fold3 below). I wrote to the National Archives for the service record. If I could find a birth date for George, I could filter out the rest of the men with this same name.

The response was that the fire of 1973 destroyed most records, but I could request the final payment voucher.

The final payment voucher verified the address in Queens. It looks like George left the Army in January of 1946 after foreign service. His signature is at the bottom of the page, which could prove useful if I find another document.

The record from Ancesty.com has George as single.

The record from Fold3.com has George as married. Is the record from Ancestry.com the same person?

I searched ship records for George Russell leaving the United States and returning in October 1945 through January 1946. No luck.

I created a family tree of all the men named George Russell living or born in New York in the target time frames. I would not know if I have included the correct person.

The Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem (BIRLS) is available at Ancestry.com. I do not see a compatible entry. (These records are also a target for release to the public for free through Reclaim the Records.)

I searched newspapers for the address. I did not find George Russell associated with the Queens address in newspapers. I found other people at this address.

The Quinlan sisters, Eileen and Doris, lived at
110-35 72nd Road in Forest Hills in 1961.

If anyone has any leads on George D Russell, I would appreciate hearing from you. Thank you.

Married Twice to Each Other

Noah Wetmore Duryee was born about 1827 in New York and died February 4, 1866 in Morrisania, New York. He was buried in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn.

Noah's widow, Lucretia Daily, married Peter Romain in 1885 and 1890. I have not found an explanation.

Peter Romain's first wife, Rachel, died in 1881 and was buried in Woodland Cemetery in Newark.

Peter and Lucretia resided together in the 1885 New Jersey state census in East Orange with Peter's grandson, Alfred.

Peter and Lucretia's first marriage was March 4, 1885 in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey. Both lived at 27 Steuben Street in East Orange.

The second marriage was February 12, 1890, again in Newark, where they were living at 230 North Seventh Street.

Peter Romain died April 20, 1894 in Asbury Park, Monmouth County, New Jersey.

Lucretia died August 24, 1920 in Bronx. According to the index at FamilySearch.org, burial was in Newark. I will need to view the original certificate of death at a Family History Center to possibly discover which cemetery.

DNA Matches Released by Living DNA

Living DNA (LivingDNA.com) has entered the pool of companies offering genetic matching to relatives.

This feature, called Family Networks, is in the Beta stage, so we can expect additional features and tools in the future.

You do not have to test with this company. For FREE, you can upload a DNA file from a site where you have tested.

I tested with Living DNA in October 2016. The attraction was a detailed break down of ancestry within Great Britain and Ireland. You can view the results here.

In October 2017 I uploaded my mother's DNA file from 23 And Me (23andMe.com). The breakdown of ancestry is apparently not available for transferred files, unfortunately.

My only DNA relative in the database is my mother.

Including me, my mother has three matches. She has thousands at the other major testing companies.

The percentage of shared DNA was exciting. These people could be second or third cousins. But the centimorgans placed the matches in the fourth to fifth cousin range (assuming no endogamy, which is a frequent barrier in my mother's tree). It looks like Living DNA calculates the percentage at double compared to the formulas at other DNA sites.

I sought to view the shared DNA segments for a better idea of how close these people might be, but no segment information or chromosome browser is available at this time.

I tried to message the matches to request a family history. The messaging feature is not available yet.

I am glad that My Living DNA is participating in relative matching. Hopefully new tools will make this another useful site for genetic genealogy.