{"id":8295,"date":"2014-09-22T16:35:53","date_gmt":"2014-09-22T16:35:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=8295"},"modified":"2023-03-31T11:14:09","modified_gmt":"2023-03-31T15:14:09","slug":"genealogy-tips-for-baby-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/genealogy-tips-for-baby-research.html","title":{"rendered":"Genealogy Tips for Baby Research"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/em><\/strong>: In this article, Mary Harrell-Sesniak provides search tips to find information about babies in your family history research. Mary is a genealogist, author and editor with a strong technology background.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

If you think about it, genealogy isn\u2019t about ancestors\u2014it\u2019s about babies, because without progeny or descendants, genealogy simply couldn\u2019t exist.<\/p>\n

\"graphic<\/a><\/p>\n

As the new grandparents of baby Eliza, my husband and I are thankful for this, as new family members are the key to making us ancestors!<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
Photo: Baby Eliza with Grandpa Tom. Credit: Mary Harrell-Sesniak.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Fortunately, GenealogyBank has an entire section of its Historical Newspaper Archives<\/a> devoted to research of these little family blessings. To access this content, select the Birth Records<\/a> category on the newspaper search page.<\/p>\n

\"screenshot<\/a><\/p>\n

Sometimes you may not find a hoped-for newspaper birth announcement, so I\u2019d like to share some genealogy search tips for better research success.<\/p>\n

Civil Registration Laws<\/strong><\/p>\n

Family history researchers are often disappointed when a courthouse doesn\u2019t have a birth record. Mainly this is due to civil registration laws, which were instituted at varying times. Even when required by law, many parents and physicians did not comply by registering babies, so early newspaper birth announcements<\/a> are important resources.<\/p>\n

Newspaper Announcements Placed by Parents<\/strong><\/p>\n

Most birth announcements are placed by parents or hospitals. They often divulge the day of the blessed event, along with details about the parental names and family address. If you are lucky, you may also locate a notice of baptism. In either case, if the announcement was published shortly after birth, then the baby\u2019s name may not be included\u2014so this is a clue to locating an elusive notice.<\/p>\n

Genealogy Search Tip:<\/em><\/strong> If you can\u2019t find a birth announcement by searching on the child\u2019s name, try searching the parents\u2019 names, the family\u2019s home address\u2014or the date of the birth.<\/p>\n

For example, notice that in these birth announcements from 1912 the parents\u2019 names and home addresses are given, but not the babies\u2019 names\u2014in each case the child is only called \u201ca daughter\u201d or \u201ca son.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"birth<\/a>
Oregonian (Portland, Oregon), 6 August 1912, page 12<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Notice that this birth announcement for Nora Maria Meyers states that her baptism was performed at the hospital.<\/p>\n

\"birth<\/a>
Anaconda Standard (Anaconda, Montana), 3 February 1921, page 3<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Genealogy Search Tip:<\/em><\/strong> Contrary to popular belief, not all baptisms were performed in churches or religious institutions.<\/p>\n

Newspaper Announcements by Others<\/strong><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t be surprised to find birth announcements placed by members of the family other than the parents, or even a mention of a new birth in a family reunion notice or obituary. As you see from this classified advertisement from 1969, the proud grandparents, great grandparents and great great grandparents had the birth announcement published to welcome little James into the world.<\/p>\n

\"birth<\/a>
Dallas Morning News (Dallas, Texas), 24 January 1969, page 4<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Expand Searches to Other Locations<\/strong><\/p>\n

Most researchers limit searches to a home town, but as seen in the example above, it\u2019s entirely possible that a notice might be placed in a city newspaper where the child was not born. James was born at Camp Pendleton in San Diego County, California, but his birth announcement was published in Dallas, Texas. If the query had been limited to California, the announcement would have been missed.<\/p>\n

Genealogy Search Tip:<\/em><\/strong> If you can\u2019t find a birth location, consider if the parents were stationed elsewhere by the military.<\/p>\n

Small Town vs. Large Town Newspapers<\/strong><\/p>\n

Although there are exceptions, small town or city newspapers are able to include expanded details about births that larger publications have to eliminate. Some smaller newspapers many even include notices from surrounding areas, such as these birth announcements from a Fort Wayne, Indiana, newspaper published in 1918 that have birth news from the towns of Angola, Waterloo and Warsaw.<\/p>\n

\"birth<\/a>
Fort Wayne News Sentinel (Fort Wayne, Indiana), 26 September 1918, page 11<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Genealogy Search Tip:<\/em><\/strong> If you can\u2019t find a birth announcement in your ancestor\u2019s home town, consider if a neighboring town\u2019s newspaper may have published one.<\/p>\n

Search Terms in Foreign-Language Newspapers<\/strong><\/p>\n

If your ancestor\u2019s family was an immigrant family or lived in a multicultural community, try incorporating foreign terms in your newspaper search for birth announcements. Long ago, many immigrant communities published local newspapers in Old World languages. For example, this 1928 announcement from Maine was published by a French-language newspaper, and reports the births of two sons (indicated by \u201cfils\u201d). I found this birth announcement by searching for the French word \u201cnaissance,\u201d which translates into English as \u201cbirth.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"birth<\/a>
Justice de Sanford (Sanford, Maine), 25 October 1928, page 6<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Genealogy Search Tip:<\/em><\/strong> To learn the equivalent terms for the word \u201cbirth\u201d used in foreign-language newspapers, search glossaries or use a translator such as Google Translate<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This Google service will translate the word \u201cbirth\u201d into a variety of foreign languages. Now enter the translated word into GenealogyBank\u2019s search box and select the Birth Records category.<\/p>\n

Interesting Facts about Babies Found on the Web<\/strong><\/p>\n