Genealogy Life Cycle- Birth Info

New researchers often assume they should start at what seems to be the beginning, birth. While this may seem like a logical approach to some, it’s actually backwards. Technically the death certificate should be the first personal document one searches for, but today we will talk about birth documents for the sake of chronology.

When starting to research your ancestors, let me hit you with a does of honesty. In most cases, you will NOT find a birth certificate. Most states have not made birth certificates available to the public online. You must contact the office of vital records for the state the person was born. In order to do this, you often need to be connected to the deceased person and have their personal information readily available. It wasn’t until 1907 that the US government developed a birth certificate application form. By 1919 all states required birth records. National office of vital statistics took over birth certificates in 1946. If you are lucky enough to find a birth certificate on a genealogy website, it can be a real treasure! So much valuable information in one document! Before the document was standardized, there were some variations in information collected. You can generally expect to find the child’s name, parents names, birth date, birthplace of parents, birthplace of child, doctor or midwife, as well as number of previous pregnancies had by the mom. 

If you fall into the majority, and are unable to find a birth certificate, you have a number of other options. We will talk about 2 here. If you progress far enough into your history, and are searching for someone born before 1900, there likely isn’t a record of their birth. One exception to this is church baptism records. These records often include the location of the church, date, name of child and parents. Of course if your ancestor was not baptized, was enslaved, or records are not available, this category of records may not help in your search. 

A second option is a birth index. The birth index only provides the year and month of birth, father’s name and child’s name. In the event that the father is unknown or undisclosed, the mother may be listed as the father. Not all states compiled birth indexes, so even this record is not a guarantee. The birth index can also be filed late and will be listed as a delayed birth index. As mentioned, they provide very little detail, but can be somewhat helpful in the absence of any other birth information. 

Of course the Census provides information on birth years for those living during the time of the census. If a child is born after the census is taken and pass away before the age of 10, they will never be recorded in the census. If you have the 1900 and 1910 censuses for a family, the number of children born to the mother are listed. If there are children you can’t account for, you can look for a birth index, baptism records, or a birth certificate. If you are unable to find their birth details, stick around for the rest of the lifecycle series. We will be discussing marriage records.

Until next week, Happy Hunting!