I haven’t come across many delayed birth registration in my 38 years of researching, but I have discovered a few.

What kinds of information can be found on this type of birth certificate and how reliable is it? Well, as for reliability, the answer is that it is only as reliable as the knowledge of the informant. As to the information found on it, details required vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, but minimally, one would expect to see the name of the person whose birth is being registered, names of the parents, place and date of birth, informant/s and relationship to the person and possibly other forms of ID if the birth was being registered years after the fact in the 20th century.

I’ve found a few late birth registrations which I believe were filed to prove citizenship during the years of World War I and World War II. My mother-in-law (who passed away some time ago so this doesn’t pertain to a living person) filed a delayed registration of birth for herself in 1944, when she was 25 years old. I never thought to ask her why she did it at that particular time. I know she worked in a military warehouse for a while during World War II. Perhaps she was told she needed to present a copy of her birth certificate. Added to the mystery is that although the Stufflebeans lived in Compton, California at the time, Ruby was born in Verden, Oklahoma so her birth had to be registered there.

Delayed Birth Registration in 1944

Even though I already knew much of this information, this is the ideal delayed birth registration that a researcher would hope to find. Ruby’s mother, Ethel Sturgell, signed the application on 12 May 1944. She provided the place and date of Ruby’s birth, parents’ names AND their birth dates! Parents’ dates of birth is not an item I would expect to see on their child’s birth certificate. Perhaps their ages and places of birth, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen this on any other birth certificate I’ve come across. It also gives the states where Ruby’s parents were born, Ruby’s address in 1944, Ethel’s address and other forms of support for Ruby’s birth.

In her case, there is a May 1937 school record from the Anadarko Public Schools department. (Ruby graduated from high school that year.) There apparently was a family Bible, which I’ve never seen or even knew about that is long since gone, recorded by Ethel in July 1919 and a copy of Ruby’s marriage license dated 1938 was also provided. She would have had to account for the surname change from Sturgell to Stufflebean.

Have you discovered any delayed birth registrations for your family members? What details were required for those? Please leave a comment.

After my mother-in-law passed away, we discovered quite a few mementos from her youth. Since it is now football season and many of my family members are football fans, here are Ruby’s souvenirs from the Anadarko High School Darkies (today, the Warriors) Football Banquet held on Thursday, 6 December 1934 at 7:30 p.m. at the Christian Church.

Ruby Sturgell, 1930’s

Last month, I wrote about the Oklahoma Dust Bowl days in the midst of the Great Depression and this school banquet continues to stretch my mind in terms of how difficult life was during that era. I know the Sturgell family was not well-to-do, having seven children and dad being a house painter. Yet, the school activities seem to indicate that, in spite of hard times, students were still able to have fun and do many of the things they did before the Depression hit.

Banquet Program

The program is tiny, about 3 inches by 4 inches and made by hand.

Darkie Football Banquet
Thursday, December 6, 1934
Christian Church, 7:30 pm

Program

Welcome: Twinkle Patton
Response: Paul Miller

Selected: Girl’s Quartet
Toast: H. Littensley

Dear old H.S.: Unison, lead by Juanita Dawser

Farewell: Smitty Watkins

Menu

Baked Chicken
Mashed Potatoes. . . Gravy
Buttered Peas. . . Cranberries
Hot Rolls. . . Butter

Waldorf Salad

Jello Fruit Salad. . .whipped cream

Cake

I wasn’t able to find much about the people listed in the program, except that Twinkle Patton was a young lady. The other names don’t show up in the 1930 or the 1940 census.

In spite of the Depression time frame, it looks like a good time was had by all and they ate well!