Alternate Records
When researching your family history, you often try to find a birth or death record for your ancestor. Unfortunately, there are times when finding one of these records can be difficult or impossible. There can be several reasons for a birth or death record to be missing. First, Kentucky did not officially record vital records until 1852. There is an exception for marriage records; however, birth and death records were not officially recorded until 1852.
The period between 1852-1910 can be hit or miss as well. Many counties had courthouses burn down, which destroyed several vital records. Many records were also destroyed by other disasters such as floods. Also, the period of 1852 to 1910 had a few periods where they stopped recording vital records but would then start recording them again after a few years. Of course, the Civil War also put a halt to recording vital records during the 1860s.
There are several reasons as to why some birth, marriage, and death records have become unavailable or never existed. What can you do if researching vital records is not an option? A great option to get around this issue is to look for alternate records. There are other types of records or documents that can provide some birth, marriage, or death information.
Some examples of alternate records to investigate include church records, cemetery records, wills, newspapers, military records, court records, and deeds. Some of these alternate records can provide you with birth information, while others may include important death information. Alternate records can still provide you with vital information that can help you learn more about your ancestor and point you in other directions for your family research.
Church records can be a great source for locating birth information for ancestors who were born before 1852. Some churches kept baptismal records that may provide birth information. Baptismal records can also provide other information such as parent’s names (including maiden name of mother), residence, godparents or other relatives, some can include if the child was born in or out of marriage, and Catholic records will usually contain dates/places of confirmation and/or marriage. While some baptismal records may be recorded a little bit after the birth of the child, you can still get an idea of their age and possible birth date based off what the baptismal record states.
Figure 1: Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption Baptisms Title Page
Figure 2: Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption Baptisms Page
Newspapers can be a wealth of birth, marriage, and death information. Some newspapers can provide birth announcements, which can give you a time frame for a person’s birth and even give you the parent’s names. The same can be said for marriage announcements. You can learn the name of your ancestor’s spouse, the marriage date, the location of marriage, and other useful marriage information. Newspapers will typically include obituaries as well. Obituaries can provide plenty of death information about your ancestor. There can be instances of an obituary not having a lot of information and only being a line or two long, which can be a risk when searching for an obituary.
Cemetery records can be beneficial in locating burial information for your ancestor. You may know what county your ancestor died in, but you may not know the exact cemetery or town they were laid to rest in. Looking at county cemetery records may be able to provide you with this information. Also, sometimes you may also learn the birth and death date of your ancestor if that information was included on the tombstone.
Figure 3: Franklin County Cemetery Record Example 1
Figure 4: Franklin County Cemetery Record Example 2
Wills are excellent sources of death information for your ancestor. You can learn the date of your ancestor’s death, the county where your ancestor died, the name of your ancestor’s spouse, the name of any children they may have had, and other useful pieces of information. An added benefit of finding your ancestor’s will is also learning more about who they were through what they passed down to their heirs.
Figure 5: Franklin County Will Example 1
Figure 6: Franklin County Will Example 2
Sometimes you may be lucky to locate some sort of birth or death information through court records. There could be a court case involving the heirs to an ancestor and someone else, and this could show that your ancestor died around a particular time. Information like this could also show who the ancestor’s children were through the listing of heirs. Sometimes you may also find an elusive will for an ancestor that you could not find. There is even a chance that you may come across a court case involving parents who are battling over parentage or custody of a child.
Figure 7: Warren County Court Record Example
Deeds are another wealth of information that can help you in place of missing birth or death records. You will typically have at least two individuals or parties included, along with some sort of depiction of what the tract of land involved is. When looking through deeds or other land records, you may find an agreement between a father and son. Sometimes, in cases of finding a female ancestor’s parents, you may find a deed between an individual and another person along with his wife. Alternatively, you may also find a wife or widow who is listed in a deed. Sometimes the names of the individuals involved could be related in some way. While this information does not necessarily provide you with direct birth or death information, it can help you find the names of an ancestor’s parents or children that you may usually look for in a birth or death record itself.
Figure 8: Franklin County Deed Example
Alternate records are valuable resources that can help when all hope seems lost. They may spark an idea that you may not have thought about before. The next time you get stuck in your family research, just think outside of the box.