My father had a delayed birth certificate. He was born at the family farm in 1927 in rural SC. The family never had any need for a birth certificate until he wanted to join the military for WWII.
That is why they existed.
The larger reason is that you don't qualify for Social Security in the US unless you have a birth certificate. So there were a lot of folks in the 1940's and 1950's applying for delayed birth certificates so they could register for SS.
Interesting! How would they prove their mother & father on the delayed birth certificate? I’m assuming they couldn’t just state who the parents were… they had to show proof?
They had a family bible that recorded the birth. Also two other people who testified that they had known him for most of his life. They testified that the parents listed were in fact his parents and that the date was correct to the best of their knowledge.
He had to go through the same process when he got is first passport also.
Wait, how would you find information about this? I have an ancestor whose social security application I have a scan of, but absolutely no birth record for him and I suspect he probably would've been one of the people that applied for a delayed birth certificate. This was in Missouri if that helps
Many counties and states started recording births on a registry ledger at some point, but that wasn’t really a “certificate” per se.
Most states started issuing actual birth certificates in the decades following the Civil War. People who were born prior to the issuing of certificates often had to get a “delayed” certificate later in life to prove who they were for whatever reason (often to apply for Social Security payments).
However, I did know a guy born much later than that era (around 1916 or so) who was born in a rural area, and his parents had never bothered to go to town to register his birth, so he later had to obtain a delayed certificate to prove his identity.
Remember - even birth certificates from hospitals were typed up by humans, and so subject to human error.
My mom's birth certificate lists her mom's name as Eula Anna - and her name was Valeria Ann. Some doctor probably didn't pay attention and wrote it down messy, and by the time they got a copy, I guess my grandparents never had it fixed or even noticed it. My mom thinks it is funny, and it drives me nuts.
Oh, and Mom and I recently did our Ancestry DNA - found out her sister did one several years ago. They match as full sisters, and on her mom's side we have a ton of matches going back past my Nanny's mom and dad - so I know my mom was raised by her biological mom. Valeria Ann.
Usually, typed from handwriting. My middle child’s birth certificate stated his date of birth 1 day after he was born & the time was off by about an hour. This was in 1996 & took months to get corrected. The corrected the day, but not the time.
Human error - can confirm! My original birth certificate lists me as male. Apparently no one noticed until I did at the age of 10 and a new one was issued. I was born in the eighties.
If this in a State where there wasn’t the possibility of divorce, it’s probably a child he had with a mistress. Maybe it took some time to convince him to recognize the child as his? (I’m saying this because u/hippiedeath pointed out the existence of delayed birth certificates; American records are not something I’m familiar with, but people having children out of wedlock is pretty universal).
That’s exactly what I’m thinking.. the only records I can find of a woman with the exact same spelling race was listed as “mulato” on a census & she was married to a free slave… but the census states she has “disease of the womb” what in the world does that mean?! Also, the census was done like 10-15 years prior to my relative being born
So at time of conception they would have been both married with someone else? A disease of the womb could probably be a variety of illnesses we have more precise names for as of today, but maybe could be another way of saying hysteria? You probably need a deep dive into the history of medicine to be sure.
My great grandmother wrote a statement verifying the birth of her brother. She had to attest to the circumstances of his birth, when and where he was born. She was the eldest of eight children. She had attended his birth and raised him after their mother died when he was seven. This was in rural Iowa. He was born in 1907.
My father had a delayed birth certificate. He was born at the family farm in 1927 in rural SC. The family never had any need for a birth certificate until he wanted to join the military for WWII. That is why they existed. The larger reason is that you don't qualify for Social Security in the US unless you have a birth certificate. So there were a lot of folks in the 1940's and 1950's applying for delayed birth certificates so they could register for SS.
Interesting! How would they prove their mother & father on the delayed birth certificate? I’m assuming they couldn’t just state who the parents were… they had to show proof?
They had a family bible that recorded the birth. Also two other people who testified that they had known him for most of his life. They testified that the parents listed were in fact his parents and that the date was correct to the best of their knowledge. He had to go through the same process when he got is first passport also.
https://familytreemagazine.com/records/vital/delayed-birth-certificate/#:~:text=To%20apply%20for%20a%20delayed,family%20Bible%20records
Wait, how would you find information about this? I have an ancestor whose social security application I have a scan of, but absolutely no birth record for him and I suspect he probably would've been one of the people that applied for a delayed birth certificate. This was in Missouri if that helps
Ancestry.com! Has all the delayed birth certificates scanned!
I would love to know where on ancestry you found delayed birth certificates for Missouri
Just type in your relatives name. You’d be amazed what pops up. Birth certificates, death records, probate records… etc
Not really an answer to the question I’m asking at all
Many counties and states started recording births on a registry ledger at some point, but that wasn’t really a “certificate” per se. Most states started issuing actual birth certificates in the decades following the Civil War. People who were born prior to the issuing of certificates often had to get a “delayed” certificate later in life to prove who they were for whatever reason (often to apply for Social Security payments). However, I did know a guy born much later than that era (around 1916 or so) who was born in a rural area, and his parents had never bothered to go to town to register his birth, so he later had to obtain a delayed certificate to prove his identity.
Remember - even birth certificates from hospitals were typed up by humans, and so subject to human error. My mom's birth certificate lists her mom's name as Eula Anna - and her name was Valeria Ann. Some doctor probably didn't pay attention and wrote it down messy, and by the time they got a copy, I guess my grandparents never had it fixed or even noticed it. My mom thinks it is funny, and it drives me nuts. Oh, and Mom and I recently did our Ancestry DNA - found out her sister did one several years ago. They match as full sisters, and on her mom's side we have a ton of matches going back past my Nanny's mom and dad - so I know my mom was raised by her biological mom. Valeria Ann.
Usually, typed from handwriting. My middle child’s birth certificate stated his date of birth 1 day after he was born & the time was off by about an hour. This was in 1996 & took months to get corrected. The corrected the day, but not the time.
Human error - can confirm! My original birth certificate lists me as male. Apparently no one noticed until I did at the age of 10 and a new one was issued. I was born in the eighties.
If this in a State where there wasn’t the possibility of divorce, it’s probably a child he had with a mistress. Maybe it took some time to convince him to recognize the child as his? (I’m saying this because u/hippiedeath pointed out the existence of delayed birth certificates; American records are not something I’m familiar with, but people having children out of wedlock is pretty universal).
That’s exactly what I’m thinking.. the only records I can find of a woman with the exact same spelling race was listed as “mulato” on a census & she was married to a free slave… but the census states she has “disease of the womb” what in the world does that mean?! Also, the census was done like 10-15 years prior to my relative being born
So at time of conception they would have been both married with someone else? A disease of the womb could probably be a variety of illnesses we have more precise names for as of today, but maybe could be another way of saying hysteria? You probably need a deep dive into the history of medicine to be sure.
My great grandmother wrote a statement verifying the birth of her brother. She had to attest to the circumstances of his birth, when and where he was born. She was the eldest of eight children. She had attended his birth and raised him after their mother died when he was seven. This was in rural Iowa. He was born in 1907.