Vintage Boston Birth and Marriage Record
Record keeping of births, deaths, marriages and divorces, vital statistics as we call them today, was not a consistent practice in America and has developed into a common practice slowly over time.
In colonial America many local communities tried to keep these records but they were often not complete. I know my own grandfather was born in rural Indiana around the turn of the last century and he did not have a birth certificate so no one really knew the year of his birth.
By the mid-1800's a few large cities on the east coast were recording birth and death records but those records were usually incomplete. Many counties in the east and midwest were recording births and deaths by the late 1800's. Most states began enacting laws about recording birth and death records in the early 1900's and within 20 years of these laws about 90% of the births and deaths were being recorded.
It was also common practice for families to keep their own records, often inside the family bible. The certificate below is an example of a family birth and death certificate, probably from the early 1900's from Boston.
Click on image to download
Enjoy!
