I am so stuck on the Jewish side of my family. I cannot even get past my great grandparents. I found the boat that my G Grandfather came over on through Ellis Island. They totally changed his name from Joachim Wertel to Joseph Vertal then they indexed him under the name of Josephina. I got through all that thinking it will help me over to Lublin, Poland where he is from but there is nothing.


The Sims are giving me trouble too. I can't even get them to where they entered the country. All of the Sims were here in New York around 1900 but most were born in Bessarabia, Romania. When I find naturalization papers I click on them but all I get is an index card with their name and a number. Problem is I can't figure out where to put this number in order to bring up my document. Is there a special search database that I should know about?


The third elusive Jewish ancestor I am trying to track is Walter Markofsky. I am pretty sure he was just a baby when he was brought to the US. I am now starting to question if they even documented babies because I should have been able to find something by now. Who knows how badly they butchered his last name.


Does anyone have any tips to share? The blank index card thing is really driving me crazy. If you have any info on the surnames Markofsky, Sims or Vertal please share, I need all the info I can get. I do pay for the monthly subscription but it hasn't helped so far. My family tree is public so help yourself to what I have so far if it is something you need.