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Along Those Lines
Delayed Birth Certificates
by George G. Morgan
We've all encountered the problem of the absence of a birth certificate. In those cases, we have to search for alternative record sources that help document the birth. This can be either an excruciating process or one that turns out to be fairly straight-forward.
It occurred to me recently that both of my parents had to perform genealogical research in order to document their births. You see, my father was born in North Carolina in 1909 and my mother was born in Georgia in 1911. Neither was born at the time that registration of births was mandatory and so they did not have birth certificates.
According to the third edition of the Red Book (Ancestry, 2004), it was not until 10 March 1913 that the North Carolina General Assembly ratified an act requiring the registration of births and deaths in the state. Full compliance was pretty much achieved by 1920 with some earlier births occasionally being recorded. Georgia, on the other hand, attempted in 1875 to require the registration of births, marriages, and deaths at the county level. Unfortunately for us, that law was repealed in 1876. It was not until 1919 that a new law was passed requiring registrations of births and deaths in the state. The counties took their time in complying with the new legislation and it wasn't until 1928 that most of them finally began registering these events.
The passage of the Social Security Act and the Railroad Retirement Act increased the need for a person to be able to prove his or her date of birth in order to collect benefits. In the early years, the 1880 census was used to locate applicants for benefits and to confirm their age. (The 1880 census asked for the age of each person as of 1 June 1880, and children under the age of 1 year were to be listed in fractions of a year, such as 4/12 or 11/12.) Later, Soundex and Miracode indexes were developed to assist with locating persons on the precise actual census pages of the 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 censuses for some states, but not all.
Ultimately, though, the Social Security Administration and the Railroad Retirement Board requested that a birth certificate be presented. (They still have personnel who check census records but this practice is on the decline.) And that is where this week's "Along Those Lines . . ." column will focus.
What Did My Parents Do?
Both of my parents were born in what I call "the B.C. period." That's short for "Before Certificates," you know. Before they could apply for Social Security, both my parents had to locate specific documentation to prove the date of their respective births. My father retired in December 1974 and my mother retired in December 1976. Mother had already had some knowledge of genealogy because of my interest and that of one of her first cousins in Atlanta. (He is eighty now and still researching the family.) She therefore began her own search and helped my father with his.
Anytime someone needs a birth certificate for whatever reason, he or she must contact the state--and often the county or similar administrative area--in which the birth occurred. A birth certificate is required to obtain a passport, to apply for Social Security, Railroad Retirement, and other benefits, and the reasons go on and on.
If a birth certificate exists, it is a simple matter of purchasing a certified copy. However, if there were no birth certificates issued at the time of the person's birth, they can have what is known as a "delayed birth certificate" issued by that state or county. In order to obtain a delayed certificate, it is necessary to provide several pieces of evidence of their age. If these are considered satisfactory, the government will issue the certificate and it will be accepted as legal proof of birth by all U.S. federal and state government agencies.
My Parents As Genealogists
I recently obtained my mother's delayed birth certificate from the Georgia Department of Public Health in Atlanta. It is typed and the form was awfully small in 1971 for some of the information that was requested. However, my mother obtained copies of the following items as her three (3) evidentiary documents.
- 1. Affidavit signed by an older female first cousin still residing in Floyd County, Georgia. That document was listed as having been signed before a named notary public on 8 November 1971.
- 2. 1920 U.S. Federal Census record issued by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington, D.C., enumerated on 19 January 1920.
- 3. Voting Registration record from the Registrar's Office, Rockingham County, NC, signed by the Registrar. The registration document had been dated 9 November 1963.
My father's Delayed Certificate of Birth was issued by the North Carolina State Board of Health, Office of Vital Statistics, on 5 October 1971. His three pieces of documentation were a little different.
- 1. Family Bible record in his possession, and his post office box mailing address was listed. The publication date of the Bible was listed as 1896.
- 2. An insurance policy (number included) issued to my father by the Pilot Life Insurance Company of Greensboro, North Carolina. The issue date was listed as 11 June 1940.
- 3. Census record issued to my father by the United States Department of Commerce, Washington, D.C., and the date of the record being stated as 1 January 1920.
Remember that both my parents had to request copies of the respective 1920 U.S. Federal Census population schedule pages from Washington because, in 1971, these records were still subject to the Privacy Act and were not accessible by the general public. Microfilm of the 1880 census and the miniscule remnants of the doomed 1890 census were the most recently released census records. Think about it!
Other Documents Could Have Been Used
I have seen examples of religious records, school records, military records, driver's licenses, divorce cases involving child custodial agreements and listing birth dates, naturalization papers, and other documents used for the purpose of proving a person's age. All of these and more could be used to obtain a delayed birth certificate. It is not just because there were no certificates issued at the time of the birth that people must seek a delayed birth certificate. There have been more recent cases where fire, flood, tornado, hurricane, or some other calamity has resulted in the loss of original documents. People then may also have to reconstruct proof of their birth date and location this way.
So . . . I Wasn't the Only Genealogist!
It's nice to know that I wasn't the only person in the family who had to trace ancestry and establish facts. However, the delayed birth certificates I have for my parents and the sources they cited remind me that there may be other resources I haven't mined yet. I think I'll write for my parents' voter registrations now.
Happy Hunting!
George
Visit George's NEW website at http://ahaseminars.com for information about speaking for your genealogical society.
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