Heritage Hunting - Birth Records and Sources

Hello again all of you happy Heritage Hunters!

Ok, so you have a good handle on your pedigree chart and you have some family group sheets going on some of your ancestors and their families. Good beginning, firm foundation! Now lets start getting more detailed information about each person - documented and verified details!

Let's start with a person's birth - easy, right? Not!!! Just look at their birth certificate, right? Not!!! Not?? Yep, not!! Most municipalities and even states did not record births or require their recordings until late in the 1800s and even then, the practice was not common or enforced until well into the early 1900s. If your ancestor of that *transition* time period did in fact record the births of their children, you may have a problem finding exactly where they recorded those facts. It may be at their church or parish, at the county courthouse, or at early governmental offices such as a health department. You may find documents or letters confirming a birth within a veteran's military discharges or pension files. All of these places would probably have an *official* record of the birth so would be considered primary documents. They were probably filed by a close relative and close in time to the actual event.

Sometimes, the recording was done later - even as late as when the birth child was an adult! These are called *delayed birth certificates* and are usually filed by a secondary source person at a time far from the actual event. Obviously, these type records may be much less reliable. How does an adult know for sure exactly where or when they were born?? It is all hearsay or oral history (or legend) by the time the certificate was made.

Therefore, you may have to resort to other means of obtaining detailed and accurate birth information. Family Bibles are fantastic for these types of undocumented events as are family correspondence and newspaper announcements. Baptism or christening records from a church are great sources and even considered primary sources in many cases. Lastly and least reliable of all are census records. When comparing census records over a long period of time, you will notice that the census interval of time passed is always 10 years, the age of the ancestor may be greater than or less than the same 10 years! The difference is usually only by a few years but also can be by many years! Ages on census records usually tend to be older for the younger folks and younger for the older respondents, with the female inaccuracies almost always greater than their male counterparts.

The farther back in time that you go with your ancestors, the less accurate the birth date and place will be usually. This is especially true for ancestors who are migrating, emigrating or are further into some sort of transition. Again, if church records are not available, the next best thing would be family correspondence. Lacking that, I don't know any more to tell you! Time to hit the big guys for more advice!

Birth certificates and other sources did not always contain a lot of helpful information. Most will mention date and place, and usually parents, but that may be all you get! Of course with birth certificates of long ago as with those of today, there may be *fudging*. Even though there may not have been as many *unknown* or wrongly reported fathers then as now, further searching and verifying may be needed.

Sometimes you may come across more than one date, place, parents, or other detail - even from some normally reliable source. Save them all!! It may come to a decision on your part as to which piece of information seems most logical that you use or publish based on your overall, general knowledge of the person.

Obtaining copies of birth certificates can range from a few cents for a copy up to $20 - $25 or more for each one! Rates seem to be raising as more and more people join our hobby and give states an opportunity to profit from our curiosity!

Websites relating to finding and documenting birth documents:

United States Vital Records
Cyndi's List
Ancestry.com Learning Center
Family History Lesson Series

Websites to look for specific birth certificates or church records would probably be easiest to find using a search engine and name a particular place. The Church of Latter Day Saints (LDS) has sent researchers all over the world scanning church records and other documents so you may be able to find scans of some birth certificates or documents by visiting their website, searching and then ordering microfilm through their regional family libraries.