Find Substitutes If Vital Records Missing

Genealogists know that vital records are considered the most basic of all records and the place to begin family history searching. Vital records, for the uninitiated, are records maintained by civil authorities and are the primary source for birth, marriage and death records.

But what to do when vital records are not available? Such records were often destroyed in a courthouse fire or flood, or, sometimes, the year you need pre-dates when the county began keeping records.

When these primary records of birth, marriage and death are unavailable, genealogists must look to substitute records for clues, estimates, or guessability as to when and where the events occurred. By checking several substitute records, the family historian can hopefully piece together enough concrete evidence to prove when great-great-great-grandmother was born, where great-great-grandfather married, or when great-uncle Harold died.

So, what are some of these substitute records?

Fran Carter has compiled a 40-page booklet alphabetically listing some suggestions for alternatives:

Adoption records can substitute for birth records. However, these records are a most-private thing and may be difficult to obtain. Check with churches, the county and local adoption agencies.

Announcements of significant dates can help narrow down dates. As now, our ancestors announced births, marriages and deaths by special printed notice, usually in the local newspaper.

Apprentice records can help determine ages and parents. Before our present education system evolved, vocational training was accomplished through apprenticeships with master craftsmen. It usually involved a boy under the age of 14, and a Contract of Agreement was often signed by the master or teacher, the parents or guardian and the boy himself.

Census records help identify the approximate birth, marriage and death dates. When a genealogist finds her ancestor on every census year of an ancestor’s life, a fairly clear picture emerges of the time span for a person’s life.

Church records contain much of the same information as civil vital records. In fact, many English, Scandinavian and European vital statistics can only be gleaned from church records because civil registration began so late in time - 1857 in England!

Midwife records, often required to be kept by some counties, contain information that would be considered primary evidence.

Name changes were recorded at the county level when a person changed his or her name; the application usually included vital statistic information.

Photographs can be considered a substitute for vital records. How about that box of family photos lurking in your basement? Are there dated wedding pictures? Baby pictures?

Probate records can contain ages, birthdates and information on children and other information that would substitute for vital records.

Report cards, first issued in the early 1840s, can help approximate a year of birth.

Telegrams, tucked away in family scrapbooks, often announce marriages, births and deaths.

Marriage applications can be used even if marriage records don’t survive; they often contain more information than a marriage certificate. Inquire at the county level for a marriage application.

Baby books may also contain the parents’ marriage information.

Customs records are the official records of immigrants at their port of arrival. The lists contain the names of all the passengers on a particular vessel, and often includes their ages.

Diaries were kept by our ancestors as records of their daily lives. Historical societies across the country count thousands of diaries in their collections, which can be used as substitutes.

Divorce records began in the colonies as early as 1639, and came under the jurisdiction of the court system. In earlier centuries, high-level courts had the sole authority to grant divorces.

Employment records, or business records, can contain a variety of vital information. Many big businesses maintained their own archives, and records of smaller businesses might well be found in county or state archives.

Histories of counties and towns often contain extensive biographies of its citizens with (hopefully) marriage information and names of children.

Missing person ads in days gone by were placed in newspapers to locate people - like a runaway wife.

Pension records, applications for military pensions, often hold much vital information because the pensioner was claiming help for his children and his wife, not just himself.

Plantation records contain the daily operations of running a plantation, and before 1870, may include slave records of birth, marriage and death.

Tombstones, memorials placed on the graves of loved ones, may tell the person’s birth and marriage dates as well as the death date.

These highlights are from Carter’s book which includes dozens of other examples, along with why they qualify as substitutes for vital records and where to locate them.

“Substitutes for Vital Records” may be ordered for $10, postpaid, from Fran Carter, 4201 E. Heron Way, No. 412, Bradenton, FL 34205.

, DataTimes MEMO: Donna Potter Phillips welcomes letters from readers. Write to her at The Spokesman-Review, Features Department, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210. For a response, please include a self-addressed, stamped envelope.

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Donna Potter Phillips The Spokesman-Review