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How do I get birth/death certificate copies for a genealogy project?

April 11th, 2011 5 comments

I am trying to apply to a group, the Daughters of the Republic of Texas (I had family that fought in the TX war for independence, have been in TX since the 1700s, etc). I have the genealogy work done, but now I need to actually prove the validity of the family tree and my connection to either an original Texas settler or (this is easier) a person who is already a member of the group. To do this, I will need to get copies of birth certificates from people going from myself back a few generations. My problem is that I am not on very good terms with my father’s side of the family, and there’s no way I can get my grandfather’s records (he is still alive) which effectively stops that search pretty low on the family tree. How else can I go about getting any records?

In some circumstances you can order on line.

http://www.texasonline.state.tx.us/tolapp/ovra/

Texas began to record vital information in 1903 but a lot of people who were born at home or died at home did not get recorded.
This was pretty much the case until after WW II.

Rootsweb(freesite) has the complete Texas Bureau of Vital Statistic Death Index1903 -2000. Now, you can save a lot of money for those who died between 1903-1976 if you order a copy from Clayton Library, 5300 Caroline, Houston, Texas. They will only charge you $3 for a copy.

You might get birth certificates also but I doubt if you can do so all the way up to 1976. States are clamping down on birth certificates to just anyone due to identity theft. Ancestry.Com has the complete birth index from 1903-2000. Your public library might have a subscription to Ancestry.Com.

If your grandfather is 75 years of age or older, then you probably can get his birth certificate without any problems in Texas.

I might add that Anglo settlements did not come to Texas until the 1800s. Moses Austin asked Spanish authorities for a large tract of land that he would promote and sell to Anglo American pioneers in 1820.

A Spanish settlement from the Canary Island was at San Antonio in the early 1700s.

http://bexargenealogy.com/index_islanders.htm