I want to buy a birth record but the state I want to buy it from only has birth records from 1892 and so on...?

Question

I am so sorry for clogging up the genealogy section. This is the last question that I am going to ask in this section today. Anyway, my ancestor was born in Maine in 1823, but in order to buy his birth record, it has to be from 1892 and so on. I just want to find out who his parents were so I can continue down my family line. What do I do now? I'm stuck.

Answer 1

You are asking legit genealogy questions so feel free to continue............. it certainly makes a nice change to help/answer a real genealogy question than the numerous non related .............

'what ethnicity do I look'

or

'my grand father was native american so what am I'

or

'where do my ancestors come from based on my surname origin'..........



So that means civil registration was not begun until 1892, so prior to that there are no birth certs, so you need to look for a baptism record which will be parish records which may or may not be online, you may have to look within the church or the archives and depending on the parish and the laws then it will depend on what is written on it, so it may just be your ancestors name and date he was baptised, it may include his fathers name and may also include his mothers name...or he may not have been baptised at all or in that parish.........



Also look at the place, look at what churches are there, look at what records are available, such as land records which may be a good option..... work records ( as if this is you Edward) then it looks like he maybe have been a sailor...so crew lists all will be in the archives, your library maybe a good option to ask and they maybe able to get inter-library loan if you don't live in Maine..... ask it is worth it...........



.......and don't worry about being 'stuck' we all hit brick walls...for me I choose another ancestor while I think where else there may be records, or I look for that ancestors siblings as they all go back on the same line .......... think creatively.......

Answer 2

It's true that Maine did not begin state-wide registration of births until 1892. That's the year that Maine required all births to be registered with the state's vital records department. However, individual towns had been recording births since the late 1600's, and many of those town birth records are still around. Those early TOWN records are kept at the state archives, as opposed to the 1892+ STATE birth records which are maintained by Maine's vital records office. If you have an idea of where in Maine your ancestor was born, you can search those early town records and hopefully find his birth record.



This is the case in other states, too. Most states began keeping state-wide vital records right around 1900 (give or take 20 years or so, depending on the state). But many individual towns or counties were keeping their own vital records long before the state-wide mandate.



Here are some other options that may mention your ancestor's parents:



Death Certificates

Marriage Records

Baptism Records

Obituaries

Cemetery Records/Tombstone Inscriptions

Memorials in church bulletins

Wills or other probate records

Land records (when family members bought/sold land to each other, the relationship is sometimes noted)

Military/Pension Records

Apprenticeship Records

Biographies in County History Books or Genealogies of local families (not an official record, but can be used as a clue to find primary source documentation)

Answer 3

Each state has a different date when they required birth CERTIFICATES. It is not the same as a birth record, that can include other types of sources ie tombstone, so forth. It might be a baptismal record in a church, and someone designated as a "birth date".

Your person is not going to have the type of record that you are used to. There are other sources, ie wills, tombstones, land records etc. They are not as easy..and no guarantee these are actually online.

You are not clogging the genealogy section..this is a completely valid question. The answer is that you are shifted into a different time, when birth/death certs did not exist, and the person won't be found in the census with parents.

If possible.. you need to find who and where that date comes from ("what is the source")

Answer 4

Ancestry has birth records from 1621. Suggest that you try using a public library, most have access to Ancestry as well as other subscription sites as well as the Familysearch.org site.

You do not have to create an account on Familysearch to obtain historical information.

Although the parents names may not be included in the index record, The maiden name of the mother sometimes included and the place of birth. Then you might have to research the historical records of the city or county where the birth took place.

The Maine sites I looked at have only from 1892 records available, most likely because those are the ones what have been indexed or digitized by some company and a copy was given to the state.

I have several ancestors who have no civil record of birth, when you get back to about 1825 or earlier, records get hard to find and even harder to obtain a copy of . You might want to get a book on basic genealogical research, there are many way to obtain information about early historical events.

Answer 5

Many states did not start recording vital information (birth and death) and issuing certificates until the first quarter of the 20th century. Therefore church records might help. Now if the family belonged to a faith that did not believe in infant baptisms there might be other church records that will help. Also look for wills, family bibles, or his death record if he died after the state started recording vital information. Today usually a death certificate includes the names of both parents.

Answer 6

If they only have birth records from 1892 forwards that means there is no information prior to that. You'll have to find another means. If your family is (or was) Catholic try searching for baptism records. The Catholic church is really good at keeping those kinds of records for an insanely long time.