Occasionally, some Linton Hall alumni have contacted me in their attempts to locate other Linton Hall alumni. The task is not easy because we live in a big country, with many people sharing the same name. Also, although most of us came from the DC metro area (those from Mexico were a notable exception) so many years have passed that many have moved out of the area. Here's what I've tried, and the results I've experienced.
Facebook.com
Although Facebook use is more prevalent among younger people, I have found classmates from the sixties and even a couple of alumni from the forties on Facebook. Since there are photos, you can quickly eliminate many name matches because they are not the age or race of the person you're looking for.
Google.com
Not too useful; I have read about a couple of Linton Hall alumni but was not able to get contact information.
Classmates.com
Good concept but didn't work in practice. The site lists about 300 Linton Hall Military School alumni (as well as more recent alumni of the post-military Linton Hall School.) The way it works, in order to be able to email someone, either the sender or the receiver must be a currently paid-up member. I signed up for a trial membership, which costs only a few bucks, and contacted all LHMS alumni, writing individual emails so as to avoid being blocked for sending spam. Only 3 or 4 opened my message. I suspect either the emails they provided are no longer current, or they have added Classmates to their spam list. (As a member I got a LOT of email from Classmates!)
Intelius.com and USsearch.com
These are people-finder databases. They appear to get most of their data from credit bureau reports (it's legal to sell and rent identifying information including name, address, phone and date of birth, but not Social Security numbers or information about credit accounts.) They also seem to get data from real estate purchases and phone directories.
You can do an initial search for free to see whether they have information for a certain name, then buy the contact information if you choose. I believe both companies offer an unlimited search pass, good for a 24-hour period, for about 20 bucks. I forget which of the two companies I used. By limiting searches to DC, MD, and VA, I found people whose current or previous address was in those states. Many results included the person's current age, helpful in narrowing down results. (Keep in mind that in many cases kids were 1, 2, sometimes even 3 years older than the "typical age" for that grade. In eighth grade, most of us were 13, but there were a couple of 14 and 15 year olds.
Results usually include several addresses (former and current, but without specifying which is the current one) so you'll probably have to mail off a form letter to several addresses. Phone numbers are only listed occasionally.
Spokeo.com
Offers a trial membership for 30 or 90 days (don't remember.) You can do quite a few searches in that period but it's not unlimited. Similar to the above databases.
Mexicans and those from other countries
I know of no database to find them. (USSEarch, Intelius and Spokeo only cover the U.S.) Mexicans, as well as those from other Spanish speaking countries, usually use a double last name (father's followed by mother's) and it would be very helpful to have both when searching for someone. Unfortunately, the Linton Hall Military School yearbook listed most under just their father's last name.
Other ways to search?
Please share them.
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Copyright 2012 by "Linton Hall Cadet."
Please respect copyright by linking to this post instead of copying and pasting.
This blog is not affiliated with Linton Hall Military School and all opinions are those of the author.
Comments are always welcome; please do not use your name or names of others.
Facebook.com
Although Facebook use is more prevalent among younger people, I have found classmates from the sixties and even a couple of alumni from the forties on Facebook. Since there are photos, you can quickly eliminate many name matches because they are not the age or race of the person you're looking for.
Google.com
Not too useful; I have read about a couple of Linton Hall alumni but was not able to get contact information.
Classmates.com
Good concept but didn't work in practice. The site lists about 300 Linton Hall Military School alumni (as well as more recent alumni of the post-military Linton Hall School.) The way it works, in order to be able to email someone, either the sender or the receiver must be a currently paid-up member. I signed up for a trial membership, which costs only a few bucks, and contacted all LHMS alumni, writing individual emails so as to avoid being blocked for sending spam. Only 3 or 4 opened my message. I suspect either the emails they provided are no longer current, or they have added Classmates to their spam list. (As a member I got a LOT of email from Classmates!)
Intelius.com and USsearch.com
These are people-finder databases. They appear to get most of their data from credit bureau reports (it's legal to sell and rent identifying information including name, address, phone and date of birth, but not Social Security numbers or information about credit accounts.) They also seem to get data from real estate purchases and phone directories.
You can do an initial search for free to see whether they have information for a certain name, then buy the contact information if you choose. I believe both companies offer an unlimited search pass, good for a 24-hour period, for about 20 bucks. I forget which of the two companies I used. By limiting searches to DC, MD, and VA, I found people whose current or previous address was in those states. Many results included the person's current age, helpful in narrowing down results. (Keep in mind that in many cases kids were 1, 2, sometimes even 3 years older than the "typical age" for that grade. In eighth grade, most of us were 13, but there were a couple of 14 and 15 year olds.
Results usually include several addresses (former and current, but without specifying which is the current one) so you'll probably have to mail off a form letter to several addresses. Phone numbers are only listed occasionally.
Spokeo.com
Offers a trial membership for 30 or 90 days (don't remember.) You can do quite a few searches in that period but it's not unlimited. Similar to the above databases.
Mexicans and those from other countries
I know of no database to find them. (USSEarch, Intelius and Spokeo only cover the U.S.) Mexicans, as well as those from other Spanish speaking countries, usually use a double last name (father's followed by mother's) and it would be very helpful to have both when searching for someone. Unfortunately, the Linton Hall Military School yearbook listed most under just their father's last name.
Other ways to search?
Please share them.
-------
Copyright 2012 by "Linton Hall Cadet."
Please respect copyright by linking to this post instead of copying and pasting.
This blog is not affiliated with Linton Hall Military School and all opinions are those of the author.
Comments are always welcome; please do not use your name or names of others.