Anyone know how to find a birth record for a birth in 1898?

Question

I am researching my grandfathers family and I am needing help finding a birth record in 1898?I have the exact date and place,but can't find a record. Thanks! Karen

Answer 1

ancestry.com has a lot of birth and death records

Answer 2

This can be difficult.

(Assuming you are in the US) 1st, I would start with the county courthouse for the place where the person was born.  Birth records are considered "Vital Records" - so you'd need to contact Vital Records in that particular county.  Many times you have to do that by mail, but they usually have a phone number where you can find out the county's procedure for getting a copy of a birth certificate.

It's getting more and more difficult to get copies of birth certificates, because of the increase in Identity theft, but with a birth date that long ago, you shouldn't have too many problems.

Unfortunately, not everybody got a birth certificate that long ago.  Many children were born at home, so the only records were baptismal. Then you would have to try and figure out which church they attended, which can be a real pain in the you know what.

Good luck

Answer 3

Like Wendy C has already said here in the UK civil registration began on July 1st 1837, if it's a UK birth I am happy to look it up for you, if it's USA I would be guided by Wendy C, she's a star.

Answer 4

Karen, you know the location but did not post it.. so hard to answer.  Texas (for example) did not require birth certificates until 1903, and that was not even followed consistently for many years.  Other states required registering births in the mid 1800s.  UK started certificates in 1837, I think... justme can verify that info.  It is completely possible that there is no certificate.  That does not translate into "no record", just that you must use an alternate source  ie census, draft record, so forth.

Please feel free to send the details to me if you like, and I'll see what I can locate in ancestry or otherwise.

Answer 5

Wendy's right, they probably didn't report the birth. Before WWII, it wasn't mandatory in too many parts of the US or Canada. Voluntary birth records were kept and usually only if there was a doctor physically present at the birth and there was a cost to registering a birth. No one needed a birth certificate unless they went to get a passport. If your birth wasn't recorded and you needed a passport or some other proof of age, the options were to get a certificate from the Census Bureau verifying your age and your parents, or go through the process of a "delayed birth certificate" with the Court in the county of your birth.

When we hit this obstacle, Plan B is to check with churches in the area for a baptismal certificate. That's what usually fills in the gaps from 1600-1900 in North America. It's all they usually had.

Answer 6

Ya! where ever your birth was held, I mean to say if you know where you take birth (In which Hospital) then you will go there and find the records of the birth according to the Year of Birth.