Lisa Louise Cooke
Arlene H. Eakle, PhD.
Episode 26: Church Birth Records
In our last episode we covered Civil Birth Records and as promised in this week’s episode we finish up this two part series with Church Birth Records. And just like with civil birth records, there are a variety of records to track down. So to help us in the hunt I’m bringing in professional genealogist Arlene Eakle who will helps us to see the challenges we face and the success we can have locating Church Birth Records
In today’s episode Arlene will give us specific, targeted information about which records are available and how to obtain Church Birth Records. So get ready for another intensive half hour of training from the best in the biz, Arlene H. Eakle Phd.
Related Links:
Transcript
The first place Arlene looks for church birth records is the International Genealogical Index also known as the IGI. This database can be found at the familysearch.org website.
TIP: Search for a namesake of the person you are looking for, particularly if they have a fairly unusual or unique name. Often times that person will be related and give you a clue as to where to find the other person.
TIP: Always attempt to get a copy of the original source for information found in transcribed records or online.
The second place Arlene searches for church birth records is in the Social Security Death Index also known as the SSDI. Listen to Family History: Genealogy Made Easy Episode 3 for more information about using the SSDI.
TIP: Keep in mind that they are still adding records to the SSDI from between the years 1937 and 1965.
When you want to locate a church in the U.S. and determine how to access their records, Arlene suggests using the Rootsweb and US Gen Web sites. (see links in above right column) US Gen Web is organized by state, then county. Arlene also likes to search Google Books.
