Thind, Singh, Cheema Family Tree Punjab India

Karen shares her miraculous story of finding 11 generations and gives us hints for our own work

Pic of my dad and all his siblings circ. 1938.  My father is seated on ground on right.  My uncle (seated left on ground with turban) is still living in Vancouver.

I was raised in California to two parents who immigrated from Punjab.  Father in 1956, Mother in 1971.

Went to a genealogy "help" day at a local community center in 2014.  There I found access to Ancestry.com immigration records and discovered my dad's plane manifest from 1956 (PanAm).  Information on the manifest, including the date and place of arrival (Idylwild Airport --now known as JFK airport) matched dad's stories of his arrival and subsequent work.

Pics showing the TWA terminal information desk when my father arrived at Idlewild Airport.

1. 2017 I traveled and thoroughly interviewed my maternal grandmother about her ancestors, family, place of birth, etc, including her experiences during partition when she was 15 years old.

2. 2021 did DNA testing with Ancestry.com

3. 2023, asked mom, brother, paternal uncle, and cousins to also do ancestry.com DNA tests.  

   1. VERY INTERESTING RESULTS

   2. Showed maternal cousin, paternal cousin, and paternal uncle as "related on both sides”.

Maternal side.  Photo includes my maternal grandparents, maternal Great-grandfather (tallest man with big beard) and BOTH of his wives (polygyny).  My mom is in the photo hiding in the back-- You can just see her eyes and forehead.

4. 2023 I remembered the "list" made by my father and his brother that had a list of all ancestors that they put together in 1986.  

5. Looked through my father's papers but didn't find it.  Asked my mom and brother to look through their documents to see if they had it.  They did not.

6. 2023 Was able to find a close relative on Ancestry with name (S).  2nd-cousin, once removed which meant that we shared a great-grandparent.  

   1. Ancestry ID'd him as on my paternal line.

   2. My Paternal grandfather was an only child, which meant (S) had to be related to my paternal grandmother who had 2 brothers.

   3. I identified her home village (Ballowal) in Punjab near Ludhiana after talking to my paternal uncle.  Verified this by looking through some of my dad's documents which named his mother's birthplace as “Ballowal"

   4. The DNA match (S) stated that his grandmother was born in the same village (Ballowal) and her father's name matched my grandmother's brother's name.

   5. Approximate ages of (S) Great grandfather and my Paternal Grandmother showed they were siblings.

   6. Linked my ancestry.com Family Tree to (S) and found more names going up my paternal grandmother's line another generation-- her parents and grandparents.

7. December 2025 FOUND THE LIST (5 above) stuck to the back of another document (copy of my dad's teaching credential) in a folder full of documents.List detailed paternal line going back 11 generations for the village Mohi (aka Mohie) near Ludhiana.

8. December 2025 Sent the list to dad's brother and my cousin asking for verification. 

"The list" created in 1980s.  Names on this list match those on the genealogy/ tree above. 

9. February 2026 Cousin casually mentioned that he knew a distant relative on our paternal side with name (P) who lived near him and he would talk to him about any information he had.

10. March 2026 (P) sent copy of a document which was a family tree from the patwari in Mohie village.  Document was handwritten and detailed all men from the founding of the village in 1500s.  My Paternal Grandfather was the last person added in 1963.Compared the names on the family tree to the names on the list.  Perfect match.

11. 2026 Continue to speak to Maternal Grandmother about her family, place of birth (in what is now pakistan).

12. Was sent a video by my mother ("Oh I forgot i had this") on youtube of my Maternal Grandfather's brother talking all about his family going back several generations. He had perfect recollection.

13. I have verified names, places, dates of birth going back :

    1. 11 generations on Paternal Grandfather's side; 

    2. 6 generations on Paternal Grandmother's side; 

    3. 4 generations on Maternal Grandmother's side; 

    4. 5 generations on Maternal Grandfather's side.

Picture of Paternal Great-grand

I have been able to collect documents, photos, handwritten notes. Accessed "boring" items such as addresses from old phonebooks and yearbooks, flight manifests for other family members, marriage documents, divorce documents, letters, land purchases.

Resources include:

• Family documents and files

• ancestry.com immigration records

• ancestry.com yearbook records

• ancestry.com phone book records

Flight Manifest for my father from India to Idlewild Airport January 1956 via TWA.

Phonebook record for Dad in Illinois

What is next for me is to try to uncover land records in india/punjab/ludhiana, specifically Ballowal and Mohie.  Since both Maternal Grandparents came from what is now in Pakistan I have little chance of pursuing those at this time.  

Still establishing and documenting provenance for several items, including the family tree from village mohi which was last updated in March 1963.

Paternal documented genealogy for Village Mohi.  My grandfather's name, "Sher Singh" is bottom left.

Zoomed in picture of part of the tree

Close up of description from Mohi Family Tree document

Close up of description from Mohi Family Tree document

Resources that you can access and where to start.

• ancestry.com DNA test for you and your relatives.

• ancestry.com records access.  

  1. The information being scanned, uploaded and digitized is growing every day especially in areas like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka

  2. Additionally, for those in the diaspora, local phonebooks which list old addresses, Union Cards, Bank Statements, etc— the mundane day to day items contain a wealth of information. Unclaimed property records, yearbooks, student directories are all good items to build a story of your family.

• Interview on video if available all elders, grandparents, great grandparents, parents.  Uncles, aunts anyone.  Have written notes as physical copies, digital copy backups AND if possible memorialize on platforms like YouTube so others can access and perhaps find a link.

• Not only is WHAT you find important, but also documenting the who, what, where, how as I did above so that others can follow your research later.

Grandparents and great-grandparents. From standing L--R:  Dad's oldest brother, Hardev Mohie, Dad's brother (still living) Gurmail; Hardev's wife Inderjeet; Seated L--R: Paternal Grandmother (from Ballowal) Sham Kaur; Great-Grandmother (First name unknown--Sardara's wife); Her son, my grandfather Sher Singh.  Celebrating my uncle coming to America circ. 1954.