My late father, Peter, was born in the Bronx on June 17, 1946 to the late Anna (Ann) Walmsley (nee Maxcy) and a man named William or Bill. This man is believed to have lived either near the University Ave. area of the Bronx near St. Nicholas Of Tolentine (of which he may have been a parishioner) OR further East in the Bronx near Fordham university within the parish of Our Lady Of Mercy (where he would have been a parishioner if he was living in that area)... He was Catholic and likely Irish-American. This information was not discovered until after Anna had passed away in 2000. By then, my father and Anna's husband, James were both deceased. With Anna's passing, several old letters were discovered which led to discussions with several elderly, but at the time, living relatives who came clean and acknowledged that an affair had taken place. William (or Bill) was well aware of the pregnancy and had asked Anna's husband if he would grant her a divorce so that he could marry her. He refused. From there, traces of this man become scarce and the latest we see him mentioned in any letter is 1950, when my father was four years old. Time is running out and with each passing day the odds of anyone who can inform us at all about these events dwindles due to the age of witnesses. All we know is that it seemed to be agreed upon by Jim's now deceased sister and Anna's close friend Fran (sadly, also now deceased, along with her husband Dan who apparently knew this William quite well) that the man was several years younger than Anna, that he enjoyed baseball (having apparently attended several games with Anna's father) and that he might have worked in some sort of civil capacity, such as the fire department. While he certainly knew of my father, we have no idea if he ever saw him or met him in any capacity. Jim's sister thought his name might have been Bill Culvert or Colbert or Cullen or Culliver but Fran dismissed these last names out of hand in a phone conversation with my mother, believing that if she heard the right one she would recognize it instantly. She was positive that none of those names were correct and the census records support her assertions as no men with any of those last names are of the right age or location to be the gentleman in question. My best guess is that this man was probably born some time in the early 1920s, very likely in New York City. Fran was certain he was of Irish extraction. Jim's sister had no idea, only stating he was catholic. If anyone, anywhere lived or knows relatives who lived in those areas in the 1940s and may have known Anna or Bill or even James or Anna's father (also named Peter), they may have some seemingly inconsequential but crucial piece to add to the puzzle. If this man had other children, perhaps they too made this same discovery and are curious about this lost relative (my father), I beg them to contact me to see if there is a good case to be made. I seek only the missing piece of my immediate family tree. I would like to know who my biological grandfather was, for the sake of my siblings and the sake of my late father who never knew about any of this. Anyone with any information, please send me a message here. I appreciate any clues, no matter how immaterial they may seem. Before anyone offers, birth records are of no consequence as it was customary at the time to hide things like this. Anna's husband is listed as the father of my father on the birth certificate, though this is clearly false.

Thank You