Yet another vital record certificate vs. family artifact question

By niteowl1851 on Mon, 01/06/2020 - 16:52

Forums

I have in my possession, a birth certificate for my grandmother issued by the county health department. She was born in 1907. The issue date on the certificate is Sept. 7, 1965. (My grandfather died a few days prior; she likely needed the certificate for legal reasons or to file for social security benefits.)  The certificate has a raised seal. The certificate passed from my grandmother to my father and now to me.  Also of note, there is not a "certificate number;" rather, the certificate references a book (H-12) and page (6). So this would be a derivative I guess of the original records in the referenced book (H-12, p. 6).

If I were to try to follow 9.33/9.34, my reference note would be something like:

Knox County, Indiana, unnumbered certificate of birth issued from unidentified birth records, book H-12, p. 6, [Grandma's name], 02 November 1907; Knox County Health Department, Vincennes.

However, if I am reading previously conversations correctly, since it was issued in 1965 and passed down, it would not be considered a county level vital records document anymore and is instead considered a private artifact?

So, should I stick with the format based on 9.33/9.34 but add a provenance layer such as:

Knox County, Indiana, unnumbered certificate of birth issued from unidentified birth records, book H-12, p. 6, [Grandma's name], 02 November 1907; Knox County Health Department, Vincennes. The certificate was issued by Knox County Health Department to [Grandma] on Sept. 7, 1965, about 5 days after her husband's death; upon her death, it passed to her son, [name], and on his death to his daughter, [my name].

Or should I change my citation to be more similar to artifact citations in chapter 3?

"Certificate of Birth, Department of Health, Vincennes, Indiana," [Grandma's name], 02 Nov. 1907, referencing book H-12, p. 6; [surname] Family files, privately held by [me], [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE], [my city], [my state]. The certificate was issued by Knox County Health Department to [Grandma] on Sept. 7, 1965, about 5 days after her husband's death; upon her death, it passed to her son, [name], and on his death to his daughter, [me].

The bit in quotes is exact from the 3 header lines on the certificate.

Submitted byEEon Mon, 01/06/2020 - 19:56

niteowl, go with the last approach. If you create a citation saying you have a copy of what's in "book H-12, p. 6," you could mislead yourself and others. What's on the certificate that you have is not necessarily all (or the same as) that which is in that particular book.

Submitted byniteowl1851on Tue, 01/07/2020 - 03:36

Thanks!  I hope to visit the county later this year and see if they will let me view the book. I do have an image of the state certificate already...though someone transcribed her name Irma as Irena. So the county has it right but the state has it wrong.  (It's Irma on her baptism, confirmation, marriage and in each census she appears in as well.)

Submitted byEEon Tue, 01/07/2020 - 19:17

You've given us an excellent example of why we need to be careful about identifying exactly where a record came from, as opposed to thinking Oh, a copy of "the" certificate can be ordered from the state office, so specifics don't matter. Our concerns should include the content of the record, not just where to order something.