Americans by the thousands are looking diligently in all the possible crannies trying to find where Granny was born and on what day. Family genealogy is one of the most pursued hobbies in the country.
Where to find valuable data often is a challenge because at different times records have been kept in different places.
"The Handy Book of Genealogists," issued by Everton Publishers, is a ready resource for determing what vital statistics are kept by each county.
Census indexes are among the best helps for locating persons. The 1850 and 1860 censuses are indexed by surname and the subsequent enumerations are indexed in the coded Soundex system. The 1900 census gives dates of birth.
Each state was required by federal law to set up a Bureau of Vital Statistics, but it took from 1895 to 1915 before every state established a bureau for recording birth and death certificates. Hence, some state records are incomplete during this period. Each county clerk was required for a period after the Civil War to keep vital statistics.
Dates of birth can be found on other records, such as applications for Social Security, and permits for travel or jobs.
Prior to the legal or civil requirement for registering births, registers were kept by parish ministers in the Catholic, Lutheran and German Evangelical churches. Records also were well maintained among the Quakers.
In the American Colonies, many of these parish registers have been published. The Charles River Parish, Bristol, St. Peters and Albemarle parishes are among them.
The New England settlers were Puritan or Congregationalists and the church was not responsible for keeping vital records. There, town records were kept similar to civil registrations found in much of Europe. These are a rich source of birth, death and marriage dates.
The Virginia State Archives has indexed collections of Bible records. Requests for searches by surname may be made to the archives.
One may also take a family Bible to the State Archives and have copies of the family data made to be added to this collection.
The card catalog at the Family History Center includes a large collection of Pennsylvania family Bibles. Names found include Boon, Burris, Derr and Brewster. Others are Harris, Hertzler, Coffman, Kepner, Lantz, Bayer, Smith, Patterson and Shellenberger.
There are 12 microfilm reels of New York state Bible records which include information on Revolutionary War soldiers buried there.
The vital listings of Rhode Island, covering 1650 to 1860, have been put on microfiche. A copy is available at the Family History Center.
Volumes of Bible records have been filmed by the Daughters of the American Revolution. Among these are records from Wisconsin, Florida, Kentucky, North Carolina and midwestern states.
Cemetery records are helpful. The Daughters of the American Revolution has microfilmed cemetery records from most states and is adding to this collection.
The Family History Center has copies of tombstone inscriptions from many local cemeteries, and can order hundreds of reels of inscriptions for all states.
Many local libraries have collections of inscriptions from family plots and small gravesites. A valuable collection of York County cemeteries was placed in the Poquoson Library by Jessie Forrest. Hampton University has gathered a collection of inscriptions.
Occasionally, inscriptions on tombstones are humorous. "Ripley's Believe It or Not" records this one from Florida: "Here lies F. K. who lived 26 years as a man and 37 as a husband."
In Sturrington, England, a headstone reads: "Here lies my poor wife without bed or blanket but dead as a doornail, Heaven be thanked."
Grim retribution was carved on a stone in Pennsylvania: "In memory of Ellen Shannon age 26 fatally burned by the explosion of a lamp filled with Danforth's non-explosive fluid."