Where to look to find living cousins

[1_rebecca_johnson]

Hello,

My grandmother, Maria Paternoster Tielemans, who was an only child, came to Canada in 1927 when she was 14. Her parents, Philippe Tielemans (born 1887 in Ganshoren) and Catharina Paternoster (born 1887 Sint-Jans-Molenbeek), lived here in Canada for a time but returned to Brussels, Belgium around 1938 because my great-grandfather qualified for a Belgique WWI war pension and must have needed to live there to get it.

I have two letters from 1950 that Catharina Paternoster sent to Canada. On 4 Apr 1950 she is at 103 Avenue du Roi, Bruxelles, Belgium (that is the return address). In the 2nd letter, 28 May 1950, she is at 62 Rue du Pressoir, Bruxelles, Belgium (the return address). It is likely that these are the addresses of the people who wrote the letters in English for her.

I also have another letter from her sister, dated 24 Aug 1951, I am assuming her name is Maria (the letter is signed M De Bruyne her maiden name would have been Paternoster), who likely was not born by 1910, informing of the death in April 1951 of Catharina. Now, this particular letter, is on letterhead from Vendu au benefice de l'aeuvre, Asiles Des Soldats Invalides Belges, 18 Rue Sterckx, Saint-Gilles, Bruxelles.

Despite looking for 12 years I have been unable to find a living relative for this side of my family. Obviously, with my grandmother being an only child, this presents a challenge. However, my great-grandaunt, Maria Petronella Schellens Tielemans (born 1879 Koekelberg illegitimate later legitimised by her parents' marriage) married Joseph Pierre De Bondt (born 1871 Berchem-Sainte-Agathe) and they had 10 children between 1896-1910. I have no idea if there were more children, or deaths, because the records are not yet available past 1910 due to FOI. Another great-grandaunt, Anna Tielemans (born 1892 Berchem-Sainte-Agathe) had an illegitimate daughter in 1910. Other Tielemans family members died from the cholera epidemic in the 1860s or did not have children.

On the Paternoster side my great-great-grandparents, François Paternoster (born 1865 Berchem-Sainte-Agathe) and Maria Thérèse De Bolle (born 1870 Sint-Ulriks-Kapelle) had at least 12 children between 1887-1907. I found early deaths for 6 of these children but the others, like my great-grandmother, Catharina Paternoster, must have had children, yes?

How would you go about trying to find living cousins when FOI restricts so much information until the possibly living have, by the time the information is made available, died? I have had no close DNA matches that might provide leads and I posted a similar post on Geneanet without luck.

[llhduflot]

Hello,

I feel your pain: it is particularly difficult in Belgium. I only found living (very remote) relatives because either they had a tree on genealogy sites (e.g. geneanet.org) or they are named with a unique variation of the family name spelling.

Laurent

[1_rebecca_johnson]

I was encouraged to post here in hopes that I could find my family.