Quick Tips: North Carolina Vital Records

I just wanted to put the word out for researchers. If you are looking for North Carolina Vital Records that aren't available online because they're too recent, you're going to want to avoid the state level when ordering records for awhile. They have an enormous backlog (I ordered a record in December and still haven't gotten it. When I called in January, they said they'd only gotten to November requests.).

You're far better off ordering your records through the county vital records offices.

Resource: DocumentsOnline

Now that this blog is a month old, I'm going to be easing from my post a day approach. I'm going to try for once or twice a week in order for me to write better posts (in theory). It's also entirely possible that I will post more or less depending upon my schedule and/or health.

This website is part of the National Archives (UK) which allows you to search through several databases, including Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, seals, and Ancient Petitions. You can download images of records, some for free and some, like the wills, for a reasonable fee. Really, I recommend looking around to see what you find. I've purchased a few wills that way and I likely will purchase a few more if I ever make any progress on my dissertation.

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/

Presidents Day: Presidents in the Census

Since it's President's Day, I thought I'd share links to the census records (1850-1930) that include the President at the time and his household. If possible, I've linked to free sites that don't require paid subscription, but there are a few that require Ancestry.com subscriptions.

The Old Poor Law (Part I)

While studying for my Archives Administration degree in Wales, I had to complete four miniature papers on various record types, which I figured I'd share here in order that the files could see the light of day again.

Part II will include the documents produced because of the poor law. 

Quick Tips: Marriage Records

Being that it's Super Bowl Sunday, I didn't feel like writing more than a brief post today. I'm not into sports at all (In fact, I picked which team I'm rooting for by the fact I like the colors and the city of one team over the other.), but I like watching the commercials.

Since I'll be focused on the TV tonight, I'm going to write about some success I've had with marriage records:

Marriage records are incredibly useful in regards to tracing your female ancestors, but there is something else you can determine from the marriage record that can be useful for finding early records of your family. If your family wasn't married by a Justice of the Peace (J.P.), I recommend taking note of who married the couple in question since you can possibly determine what denomination or religion your ancestors practiced.

Once you have the name, do a quick online search using the name of the pastor with the words 'church' and the general location of where your ancestors lived or were married. If that doesn't work, I'd try heading to a library to check out the local history books or indexes of local clergy. Once you know the church, then you can see if they have any baptism, marriage, or death records to further your research.

Petty Sessions Records (United Kingdom)

What are Petty Sessions?

The Baptists of the United Kingdom and Their Records

While studying for my Archives Administration degree in Wales, I had to complete four miniature papers on various record types, which I figured I'd share here in order that the files could see the light of day again. 

Your Ancestor's Social Security Application

I have seen a common brick wall for researchers in ancestors born in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Whether it's the partial 1890 census creating a brick wall, a common name, conflicting death certificate information, or the lack of a birth certificate, I would suggest seeing if your ancestor applied for a Social Security Number.

Though we're now given Social Security Numbers at birth, many people had to register for a number when the Social Security Board began giving them out in November 1936. Interestingly enough, the Social Security Administration states on their website that the first "Social Security Record" was created for a John David Sweeney Jr. of New York State. (Source: History of the First SSN Card)

Applicants had to fill in the SS-5 form with the following data:

1) Name

2) Maiden Name

3) Current Address

4) Birth date

5) Birth place

6) Father's full name

7) Mother's full name, including her maiden name

In my case, I had a brick wall in my great-grandmother, Irene (Stephens) Rodgers who was born in 1902 before Missouri's statewide birth certificate registration really took hold, and of course, there was more than one Irene Stephens/Stevens of similar age in Missouri during the 1910 census.

I knew her date of death (1973) and where she was buried, but I hesitated in spending money on ordering a death certificate for one very good reason. The thing about death certificates is that the information on the deceased's parents is only so good as the informant giving the information.

Enter the Social Security Death Index (SSDI). I had trouble finding Irene Rodgers in the database, and then I found a woman with a different surname but correct death date. That was when I found out about her other two marriages that I never knew about. Armed with her social security number, I decided that I would order her Social Security Application. It cost $27.

A couple of weeks later, I received a copy of the form in the mail. The application provided me with the information I needed, and as a result, I found her parents' death certificates, photos of her parents (my great-great grandparents) on findagrave, and extended my family tree back a few more branches. I would definitely recommend giving this a try.

Links:
Social Security Death Index (SSDI) (Via Family Search Record Search):
Social Security Application Ordering Form (Via Social Security Administration)