United States Delayed Birth Records
Find the Records
Online Resources
- See the state vital records pages to locate records.
Offices to Contact
- Contact the county courthouse where the applicant lived
Background
In the 1940s, delayed birth records or certificates were created to document a birth when no birth record was found. Most adults were applying for Social Security benefits or for a passport.[1]
- People applying for delayed birth records could easily be older, making some birth dates as early as the 1860's
The records were created by a county court. They can be difficult to locate as many of them have not been digitized and still remain in the county where the person registered the birth, likely the residence of the applicant.
Types of records used to prove birth:
- Affidavit of someone who was present at the birth, such as a mother, midwife
- School records
- Census records
- Bible records
Information Recorded in the Records
- Contains the same information found on a birth certificate:[2]
- Name, birth date, birth place of child
- Child's parents' names including maiden name of mother
- Birthplaces of parents
- Race of parents
- Additional information included[3]:
- Documents used to prove birth
- Names of relatives who provided affidavits
- Current residence
Vital Records by Location
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
Strategy
- Search for delayed records in the county of residence at the time the delayed birth record would have been issued (1940s).
- Delayed birth records can be located among the other birth records for the county or state.
References
- ↑ Kathleen W. Hinckley, "Tracking Twentieth-Century Ancestors" The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy. Rev. Ed. Loretto Dennis Szucs and Sandra Hargreaves Luebking, Eds. (Salt Lake City: Ancestry Inc., 1997), 630-631.
- ↑ Johni Cerny, "Research in Birth, Death, and Cemetery Records" The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy. Rev. Ed. Loretto Dennis Szucs and Sandra Hargreaves Luebking, Eds. (Salt Lake City: Ancestry Inc., 1997), 66-67.
- ↑ Johni Cerny, "Research in Birth, Death, and Cemetery Records" The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy. Rev. Ed. Loretto Dennis Szucs and Sandra Hargreaves Luebking, Eds. (Salt Lake City: Ancestry Inc., 1997), 66-67.