Where were you born and when? Do you remember any stories that your parents shared with you about your birth? Do you have your birth and/ or baptismal certificates?
It
is important that you get all the information when determining where
people were born. Remember in rural locations the family home was a
common place or the local midwife. Remember to people would go to the
closest city which did not always mean in the same county, state or
country. I did research for a client who had family in Vermont and
could not locate them. They happened to live along the US Canadian
border. Guess what the family filed all their records in Canada.
When
interviewing for stories in large families remember memories are going
to vary a great deal from the youngest child to the oldest. You will
get surprises from the people that you would not have felt when you
started would have had the most information. Interview everyone that is
willing.
In
many cases the best source for birth records prior to a civil record
would be the church. Remember that baptismal certificates often
indicate the date they were baptized not the day they were born.
Tomorrow more insight into the questions.
