Multiple layers with a Massachusetts delayed record of birth

By Anonymous on Wed, 10/19/2016 - 08:38

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The Registry of Vital Records and Statistics of The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania recently was so kind to send me a "true copy" of the Delayed Return of Birth of Theodore Gadek, born in 1909.  This "Certificate of Vital Record," came with an attachment explaining that the state file number is 146 and the that record was documented by a baptismal certifice.  Earlier the Town of Adams had sent me a photocopy of the Delayed Certificate of Birth that they have in their records. This form is not dated, but it is numbered '146.'  The town clerk also sent me copy Theodore's Certificate of Birth and Baptism.   I am attaching a PDF file of the four pieces of paper.  The first 2 pages were received from the Registry of Vital Records and Statistics of The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in Dorchester, Mass.  Pages 3 and 4 were received from the Town Clerk in Adams, Mass. 

There are a lot of numbers and dates to consider.

  1. 11 October 2016: Registry of Vital Records and Statistics of The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania issues Certificate of Vital Record R391556
  2. 10 November 1953: Division of Vital Statistics issues Delayed Return of Birth number 53.  The State File number is 146.
  3. 9 May 1946: St. Stanislaus B. & M. Church in Scranton, Pa. issues a certificate of birth and baptism.
  4. 28 March 1909: Theodore Thadeus Gadek is baptized
  5. 25 March 1909: Theodore Gadek is born.

I would love feedback for the citations I crafted.   

1. For the Delayed Certificate of Birth, received from the Adams Town Clerk.

First Reference Note: Berkshire County, Massachusetts, Delayed Certificate of Birth no. 146 (1909), Theodore Gadek; Town Clerk, Adams, Massachusetts.

2. For the Delayed Birth Record, received from the Massachusetts Registry of Vital Records and Statistics.

First Reference Note: Massachusetts Registry of Vital Records and Statistics, delayed birth record 146 (issued 1953), Theodore Gadek; citing Adams, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, Delayed Return of Birth no. 53 (1909); Registry of Vital Records and Statistics, Dorchester.

or

First Reference Note: Massachusetts Registry of Vital Records and Statistics, Certificate of Vital Record R391556, Theodore Gadek (1909), issued 2016; citing Adams, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, Delayed Return of Birth no. 53 (1909); Registry of Vital Records and Statistics, Dorchester.

3. For the Certificate of Birth and Baptism, received from the Adams Town Clerk.

First Reference Note: St. Stanislaus B. & M. Church (Scranton, Pa.), Certificate of Birth and Baptism, Theodore Gadek (1909), issued 9 May 1949; photocopy, Town Clerk, Adams, Massachusetts.

 

Thank  you so much!

 

Kristine

Submitted bykasmetson Wed, 10/19/2016 - 08:42

Apologies - uploading the documents is trickier than I thought.  This is an image of the Delayed Certificate of Birth received from the Town Clerk of Adams.

Submitted bykasmetson Wed, 10/19/2016 - 08:42

Image of the Delayed Birth Record, received from the Massachusetts Registry of Vital Records and Statistics

Submitted bykasmetson Wed, 10/19/2016 - 08:43

And finally the image of the Certificate of Birth and Baptism, received from the Adams Town Clerk

Submitted byEEon Wed, 10/19/2016 - 18:07

Kristine, you are fortunate to have this many documents for one event--and to be commended for tracking them all down. As for those thoughts you asked for:

Your No. 1 well tracks EE's QuickCheck Model on p. 428. One tweak you might make is to identify the repository as "Town Clerk's Office," rather than just "Town Clerk." Given that the words "Town Clerk" are immediately preceded by a name, a too-casual reader could read it as "Theodore Gadek, Town Clerk."

Your No. 2 tracks with EE 9.35. One tweak there for clarity might be made to the phrase "citing Adams, Berkshire County, Massachusetts."  Again, an inexperienced reader of your citation who doesn't know the geo-political entities in Berkshire, could think that "citing Adams ...." was a reference to a person. One way to clarify it might be to say "citing Adams (Berkshire County), Massachusetts ... ."

Your No. 3 does a good job of adapting a basic citation of a church certificate to incorporate the fact that it came to you through a non-traditional channel.  One enhancement here would be to add the date that the Town Clerk issued your photocopy of the 1949 certificate.

Overall (as long as we're tweaking), there's one inconsistency between your three examples. In No. 1 and No. 3, you use initial caps for the identity of the document. Your No. 2 (first example) uses lower case. If all three citations appear in your finished work, you'd want to treat the three consistently.

 

Submitted bykasmetson Thu, 10/20/2016 - 09:36

That you so much Editor!  I am so relieved to read I was on the right track.  Is there a preference for either option for #2?

Otherwise, here are my final citations:

#1 First Reference Note: Berkshire County, Massachusetts, Delayed Certificate of Birth no. 146 (1909), Theodore Gadek; Town Clerk’s Office, Adams, Massachusetts.

#2

option 1: First Reference Note: Massachusetts Registry of Vital Records and Statistics, Delayed Birth Record 146 (issued 1953), Theodore Gadek; citing Adams (Berkshire County), Massachusetts, Delayed Return of Birth no. 53 (1909); Registry of Vital Records and Statistics, Dorchester.

option 2: First Reference Note: Massachusetts Registry of Vital Records and Statistics, Certificate of Vital Record R391556, Theodore Gadek (1909), issued 2016; citing Adams (Berkshire County), Massachusetts, Delayed Return of Birth no. 53 (1909); Registry of Vital Records and Statistics, Dorchester.

#3: First Reference Note: St. Stanislaus B. & M. Church (Scranton, Pa.), Certificate of Birth and Baptism, Theodore Thaddeus Gadek (1909), issued 9 May 1949; Town Clerk’s Office, Adams, Massachusetts; photocopy provided to the author in 2016.

Regarding your first reference note #1:

I'm thinking your lead element should be Adams (Massachusetts), not Berkshire County.  Counties in Massachusetts neither create nor hold vital records.  City and town clerks' offices handle the vital records, and send a "copy" to the state.  (Copies which sometimes contain more information than the "original" so its helpful to find both.)  So,

Adams (Massachusetts), delayed certificate of birth 146 (1909), Theodore Gadek; Town Clerk's Office, Adams.

I also like to add another layer noting whether the copy I've been sent is a certified photocopy or a certified extract, but maybe that's just me :)

~Adam

Thanks, Adam, for catching that. As for adding another layer. Of course, in our working research notes, it is helpful to add anything that enables us to better understand our source. If we send that piece of research out for publication and it's accepted, then the editor will trim the citation to fit that journal's or that publisher's space-saving house style. But for our own research purposes, precise descriptions and explanations are immensely helpful when we're dealing with contradictory evidence and must make value judgments.