Nebraska, Box Butte County Birth Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

What is in This Collection?
This collection includes birth records from the county of Box Butte, Nebraska for the years 1885 – 2015. Included are birth certificates, delayed birth registrations (usually from home births), court-issued birth decrees, and witness affidavits.

What Can these Records Tell Me?
Birth certificates may contain the following information: Delayed Birth Registrations: These are legal documents submitted to the court (usually by the father) for the purpose of obtaining a birth certificate for the child, who was usually born at home. They may contain the following information: Court-issued Birth Decrees: These court documents issue the information that will be included on the new birth certificate. They may contain the following information: Witness Affidavits: These court documents contain witness information validating the person’s birth. They may contain the following information:
 * County/City of birth
 * Child’s full name, sex, whether a twin/triplet, whether the child is legitimate, and the child’s birth date
 * Father’s full name, residence, race, age, birthplace, and occupation
 * Mother’s full name, residence, race, age, birthplace, and occupation
 * Total number of children born to mother
 * Number of mother’s children alive at time of new child’s birth
 * Number of mother’s children dead at time of new child’s birth
 * Number of mother’s children stillborn at time of new child’s birth
 * Whether the new child was born alive or stillborn
 * Birth person’s full name, birth date, sex, birthplace, and who attended the birth
 * Father’s name, race, birth year, and birthplace
 * Mother’s name, race, birth year, and birthplace
 * Date signed by county judge
 * Child’s name at birth, birth date, sex, birthplace (city/county), and the birth attendant’s name and address
 * Father’s name, race, birth year, and birthplace
 * Mother’s name, race, birth year, and birthplace
 * Fee paid
 * Witness’s name, age, and relationship to the birth child
 * Birth child’s name at birth, birth date, sex, birthplace, and who attended the birth
 * Date the witness affidavit was signed

How Do I Search the Collection?
Before searching this collection, it is helpful to know:
 * The child’s name
 * Approximate year of birth for the child
 * Child’s parents’ names

How Do I Analyze the Results?
Compare each result from your search with what you know to determine if there is a match. This may require viewing multiple records or images. Keep track of your research in a research log.

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

 * Use the information to find other records such as marriage, census, church, land and death records.
 * Use the occupations to find employment or military records.
 * Use the information to establish a migration pattern and find additional family members.
 * Repeat this process with additional family members found, to find more generations of the family.
 * Church Records often were kept years before government records were required and are a good source for finding ancestors before 1900.

I Can’t Find Who I’m Looking for, What Now?

 * Try viewing the original record to see if there were errors in the transcription of the name, age, residence, etc. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * Collect entries for every person who has the same surname. This list can help you identify possible relations that can be verified by records.
 * If you cannot locate your ancestor in the locality in which you believe they lived, then try searching records of a nearby locality in an area search.
 * Standard spelling of names typically did not exist during the periods our ancestors lived in. Try variations of your ancestor’s name while searching the index or browsing through images.
 * Remember that sometimes individuals went by nicknames or alternated between using first and middle names. Try searching for these names as well.
 * Search the indexes and records of Nebraska, United States Genealogy.
 * Search in the Nebraska Archives and Libraries.

Research Helps
The following articles will help you in your research for your family in the state of Nebraska.
 * Nebraska Guided Research
 * Nebraska Research Tips and Strategies
 * Step-by-Step Nebraska Research, 1880-Present

Citing this Collection
Citations help you keep track of places you have searched and sources you have found. Identifying your sources helps others find the records you used.