How do I get birth/death certificate copies for a genealogy project?
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
fake them.
References :
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
References :
In the UK we can apply to the Register Office local to where a Birth Marriage or Death occurred, for a copy of the original entry in the Registers.
Failing this, we can order a copy from the Central Register Office (but it costs more!) if we aren’t sure of the local Registration District.
Do you have that facility ?
References :
Birth certificates are going to be a problem. For living people, you are only allowed to request your own or that of a person you have legal guardianship over. You can get the birth certificate of a deceased parent but not a living one.
Death certificates though are public record. If you know the place and date, you can go to the appropriate records office (usually Office of Vital Records) – some have ways to request such certificates online or through the mail (but it will cost some money). However, since you are you indicated your grandfather is still alive, that would probably mean you are looking for death certificate of your great grandfather. Those may be part of the state archives which are much more difficult to deal with – not administratively, but you would probably have to do the "searching" yourself with minimal indexing support.
Unfortunately though, for living individuals, you are going to have a very difficult, if not impossible, time getting records. Privacy concerns and identity theft are big problems and most, if not all states, recognize this and have very strict conditions to access these records.
***ADDENDUM***
Shirley above submitted her answer as I was typing mine. Upon further review, her answer is a lot better than mine!
References :
If you know where your grandfather was born go to the county hall of records or write to the same to get his birth certificate.You have know on all others the state & county that they were born & dyed then you write to them to get all the re
cords you need.
They will charge you a small amount for the service.
References :