Do you always search for delayed vital records? I recently discovered a 1913 Chicago, Illinois, birth that was registered in 1963. These are usually recorded in the jurisdiction where the event took place, but occasionally they may be recorded where the person lived. They are usually filed as a separate series of records–not with the ones that were recorded contemporary to the birth.
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11 Responses
How does one search specifically for a delayed birth certificate?
These are usually filed in a separate series of records in the location where the birth took place.
When a birth is certified fifty years after the event, who starts the process, and how does she prove the information is correct?
I’m curious about the timing of this particular delayed registration: two days before her fiftieth birthday. Was she thinking ahead to the time when she would become eligible to file for Social Security? Or, shorter-term, was she looking forward to getting her senior discount at age 50 or 55?
Usually the person starts the process for themselves. Affidavits (from parents or siblings, aunts, uncles, etc.) or documentation (church or school records most frequently) is required. Based on other events in this person’s life, I’m guessing she was getting her social security number at the time this all took place.
I have a couple of delayed birth certificates from Union County, IL. My grandfather’s record included an affidavit signed by his uncle. The other certificate, for a cousin, included a list of documents provided to prove the birthdate.
Just today I found my Dad’s delayed birth record from the same source. His was delayed 34 years. I’m going to dig a little further to see why it was delayed. It may have been as a result of a major life changing event – moving from Chicago to California. And getting his ducks in order.
My grandmother, b. 1884, had to get one to work for the government during WWII.
My Mother needed a birth Certificate to be able to get a passport. She had to get affidavits from a lot of people to be able to get one.
My grandparents born in the 1890’s needed birth certificates for social security. Besides affidavits the clerk used birth records filed with the county and census records. On one of the forms in the summer wanted children born last year. My grandfather was born previous Jan. Not the prior year. They made his birthday a year earlier, even though my grandparents insisted they had the wrong year. Being a farmer, this error helped their social security. I’m so glad my mom was alive to explain this error to me. Many distance cousins used the SS birth/death records and tell me I have the wrong birth year.
My great grandfather was born in Louisville KY in 1863, in the middle of the Civil War. And state issued birth certificates were not required in Kentucky until 1910. The man I spoke with at the archives in Frankfort said they could have issued a delayed BC, but I’m not sure how to go about searching for it.
The county where he was born is the place to look. Given when he was born, it is doubtful one was ever issued. Delayed birth certificates were usually filed when people needed to document their birth for Social Security or otherwise really needed to “prove” their age.