Birth Corrections

People can "correct" a birth certificate years later.  They can change names, dates, and locations.  Always be on the watch for a correction to any record.  When viewing images, this correction may be filmed before or after the original record, or you may have to search a different collection.

Naturally, discrepancies result in changing any official record.  You need to consider the original information as filed and weigh it against the "correct" information and when the amendments were requested.  Most of the corrections I see where not made around the time of the event.  You need to look not just at the information provided and changed, but when the changes were sought and figure out the motive.

I usually find corrections to names.  This includes giving "Baby" a first and middle name.  (Yes, you could have a birth certificate issued for "Baby.")

Birth certificate for Gertrude HERZIG, born November 10, 1904 in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey.
Copied at the New Jersey State Archives by J Lutter.

Birth certificate correction for Gertrude HERZIG.  "Gertrude" was changed to "Louise Madeline."
Note the time of correction- almost 39 years after the event.

I see two factors in correcting birth certificates in the 1930s and 1940s.  First, people could apply for a Social Security Number under the 1935 Act and may have needed a birth certificate to reflect the name under which they were employed.  Second, during World War II,  people needed to "prove" their American citizenship.

Birth certificate for Marie Kenny, born "December 9, 1917" at "86 W 7th St," Bayonne, Hudson County, New Jersey.

Birth certificate for Peter Kenny, born "March 6, 1919" in Bayonne, Hudson County, New Jersey.

The birth certificates for these siblings appear in order.  But wait- the dates were changed!  Changing the date is something I don't usually see and really makes you question the validity of any of these records.  Nevertheless, on the official form, under "Items to be corrected," "Date of birth" is one of the suggestions.

Correction to birth, 25 years later, during World War II.
The date of birth was changed by a month.
The place of birth was also changed from house number 36 to 86; but it is 86 in the original.

On the same date as his sister sought to amend her date of birth by a month,
Peter Kenny also amended his- by only three days.

When you encounter official corrections to a record, you will need to cite both the original and amended information and reference the respective sources.

These documents demonstrate that even a birth certificate is not absolute proof of the event.

License to Marry

People seeking to marry in New Jersey in the 1900s (through today) needed a marriage license first.  A license from this time period is not usually something that we get to see.  It is the certification of marriage or the marriage return that we find at the Archives or receive in the mail.  But I found a license, partially obscured, next to the certificate of marriage.  Note the bold ink stamps and the perforation on the left of the paper.

License to get married
Peter Kenny and Mary Dugan, issued November 2, 1916 in Bayonne, Hudson County, New Jersey

Certificate of marriage
Peter Kenny to Mary Dugan
November 15, 1916 in Bayonne, Hudson County, New Jersey
Copied at the New Jersey State Archives by J Lutter

Thirteen days later, the parties were married.  Above is the marriage certificate that we are used to finding.  Note the perforation on the right of the paper and the reverse ink stamps from the license on the back.

Maybe the two pages were separated before writing, but for this couple, the pages stuck together?  Lucky me that the back of the marriage certificate was also filmed so I can see the license as well.  This is also why you want to look at the images filmed before and after the object of your search has been located.

Church Records

I don't write much about church records, so here is a post about my use of church records- specifically Catholic church records.

A lot of my Irish Catholic lines moved to Bayonne, Hudson County, New Jersey in the 1800s.  The church records have been microfilmed and can be ordered through your local Family History Center.  I didn't get to it yet.  I figure I'll need a long sabbatical from my day job to chase all those Irish lines.  I was also hoping that the film would appear as images online so I could view them without leaving home.  In the meantime, you can access some of the information at home through the online New Jersey collection: Births and Christenings, 1660-1980, which is transcribed versions of some of the information you would find if you viewed the actual church record.

I was looking for information on an Irish line and found that the online collection of the Hudson County Genealogical and Historical Society has greatly expanded.  Brian Patrick Molloy has transcribed some of the records for the parish of St. Mary, Star of the Sea, in Bayonne.

I browsed all of the transcribed records and was delighted to see the baptismal entry for my great grandfather, Francis "Frank" O'Donnell.  I already have Frank's 1888 state-issued birth certificate, as well as his 1911 marriage return to Anna Preston.  Anna died in 1921.  I was told that Frank may have remarried.  There are a few ways of looking for a remarriage, but a (transcribed) church record is how I found this remarriage.

Look at the entry for Francis O'Donnell in the New Jersey Collection at FamilySearch.org.

Another researcher has helped me tremendously with German lines by sending me copies of actual church records.  Look at the example below of the information that you can find in the record of baptism.

The baptismal record can contain date of birth, date of baptism, names of parents, addresses.  But wait- there is more!  The sponsors are listed and they are usually related to at least one of the parties.  But that is not all!  The baptismal record can be updated with matrimony records!  Yes- you may find out the name of the spouse and the date of marriage.

As I mentioned, I did not look at the actual church record for Frank O'Donnell.  I viewed the online transcription.

The sponsors are listed!  Rose Kenny was a sister of Patrick O'Donnell and paternal aunt of Frank, the baby being baptized.  The first marriage to Anna Preston is listed, which I had already.  As a bonus, I get a lead on the possible second marriage.  "Sp?" indicated that the transcribed spelling may not be accurate, but that's okay- this is a transcription designed to lead to a closer record.  1940 is the final year of marriage records available at the New Jersey State Archives for me to walk in and copy.  Looking under the Letter O for the groom, which is how New Jersey organized marriage records in this time period, I found the marriage record for Frank O'Donnell to Mary Gertrude Farnan, widow of James Paradine.

Remember that indexes and transcriptions lead you to records and are not sources in their own right (unless there is a remarkable discrepancy, but that's for another post).