Looking for Guthoffs?

Question

My grandfather George Francis Guthoff was born in February 1909, died in Glendora, NJ in July 1971. His wife was Beatrice A. Guthoff originally of Haddonfield, NJ and they had 5 daughters living mostly in Camden County, NJ. He had an older brother named John, about 2-4 years older. John outlived my grandfather and lived and died (1980s) in California, but I dont know the city. Its said John and George were born in North or South Dakota, but even George's daughters dont know for sure. Grandpop didnt talk much about his family and my Mom and her sisters never met their grandparents or other family, except for 'Uncle John'. Grandpop told me one day when I was a teen that he was 1/2 Dutch and 1/2 Sioux Indian & that he had been born on a reservation, but my Mom said he was kidding (however he had sounded serious to me). Help me fill out this empty side of my family tree!

Answer 1

Hey Bee,

Below are a bunch of sites that should help. I pick them specifically for your family. The first site is a searchfor the Guthoff Family. The Second, was going to be for GENFORUM on that name but none exists. You should start one, post some questions, and wait for responses from a place where people doing genealogy know they can go for a specific surname. So, Instead of a search, I put the main link.

Next, there were many many ancestors found in Family Search. With a rare name like Guthoff, they must be somehow related. Go there, to that site, and put GUTHOFF in the search.

Then there are DNA sites - this could help, Sorenson is FREE. At least you would find out if the Native American Lakota (Souix) was true or not.

Then Vital Records sites, but it sounds like you may know how to do that already. Be sure to get Grandpop's birth certificate, death certificate, obits, marriage records, etc. You should do that for everyone on the tree, to prove the connections, and get more clues, like parents names and places of birth, and ages when the child was born, etc.

Hope this helps.

PS:
Found This in Family Search:
Name Relation Marital Status Gender Race Age Birthplace Occupation Father's Birthplace Mother's Birthplace
Geo. F. GUTHOFF Self M Male W 62 PA Color Manufactres PA PA
Christina GUTHOFF Wife M Female W 64 PRUS Keeps House PRUS PRUS
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Entry #57
George GUTHOFF
Birth Date: 20 Feb 1906
Death Date: Jul 1970
Social Security Number: 148-10-6314
State or Territory Where Number Was Issued: New Jersey

Death Residence Localities
ZIP Code: 08029
Localities: Glendora, Camden, New Jersey

Answer 2

North Dakota Division of Vital Records provides registration and certification of the vital events that occur in North Dakota. These events include births, deaths, fetal deaths, marriages and divorces. There is a simular site in South Dakota. Hope this helps.

Answer 3

http://vitals.rootsweb.com/ca/death/search.cgi
has 9,366,786 records from 1940 thru 1997. Play around with it - put Guthoff in the surname, the mother's maiden name, father's surname. (One at a time.) I found eight, all told. Most died in Los Angeles, which is a tough county for obituaries. If you live there, however, you might try for them in the local library. Find out which town they died in from the SSDI. Someone who didn't make the LA Times might still be in the Pamona Express.