Delayed Birth Records

The NGS Magazine recently had an article about vital records; reading it reminded me of another source to check for birth records. After President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law in August 1936, individuals had to prove the date of their birth in order to qualify for payments. According to the NGS article, the system of issuing regular payments began in 1942, but lump-sum checks were issued from 1937 to 1940. At this time there was a huge rush to obtain delayed birth records, as many born in the nineteenth century had no birth certificate.

My paternal grandmother and her many siblings were all registered at the courthouse by their mother around this same time. Their names do not appear in the usual place in the indexes, however; the names were simply added to the end of that section of the alphabet. If you are missing birth records for ancestors who would fit this category, it is worth checking further into your county records.