New Hampshire, Birth Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

What is in This Collection?
The collection "New Hampshire, Birth Records, Early to 1900" consists of an index and images of New Hampshire birth records. Records consist of index cards that give the town and date of the event and often much more information. With the town and date, the original records can usually be located. Normally there is only one index card per child, but occasionally there is a corrected card before or after the original card.

The collection also contains handwritten cards compiled in 1905 from original town records for the early years to 1915.

Online collections for other websites may include original ledgers from which the 1905 cards were created. The original town records from which the Hancock and Grofton births were transcribed are available on Fold3.com, under the New Hampshire Town Records collection.

The collection "New Hampshire, Birth Certificates, 1901-1915" consists of an index and images of birth certificates from the New Hampshire Division of Vital Records in Concord. The Collection is arranged by year, by certificate number, and by name.

What Can These Records Tell Me?
The following information may be found in these records:

Birth Early to 1900
 * Child's name and gender
 * Date and place of birth
 * Living birth or stillborn
 * Number of children in family
 * Father's name, age and birth place
 * Father's race, occupation and residence
 * Maiden name of mother her place of birth
 * Mother's race and age
 * Name of physician or midwife attending birth
 * Place where birth was recorded

Births 1901-1915
 * Child's name and gender
 * Date and place of birth
 * Gender
 * Race
 * Living birth or stillborn
 * Number of children in family
 * Father's name
 * Father's birthplace, race, age, residence and occupation
 * Maiden name of mother
 * Mother's birthplace, color, age and occupation
 * Name and address of physician or midwife attending birth
 * Place where birth was recorded

Official records of births occurring in each New Hampshire town or city are kept by the clerk, who sends copies to the Bureau of Vital Records and Health in Concord, New Hampshire. Statewide compilation began with the passing of a law in 1866. Total compliance with the law did not happen until sometime in the 1880’s. Prior to 1883 less than half of the population was listed in the birth records; thereafter the records are more complete and give more genealogical information. When the Bureau of Vital Records was created in 1905 printed cards were distributed and early town records of births dating back to the 1640s were transcribed onto the cards and submitted to the new Bureau.

How Do I Search This Collection?
Before searching this collection, it is helpful to know:
 * The full name of your ancestor
 * The birth date of your ancestor
 * The birth place of your ancestor
 * The names of the child's parents

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 the Person I Was Looking For, What Now?

 * Use the birth date along with the place of birth to find the family in census records
 * Use the residence and names of the parents to locate church and land records
 * The father’s occupation can lead you to employment records or other types of records such as military records
 * The parent’s birth places can tell you former residences and can help to establish a migration pattern for the family
 * It is often helpful to extract the information on all children with the same parents
 * If the surname is unusual, you may want to compile birth entries for every person of the same surname and sort them into families based on the names of the parents
 * Search the birth records to identify siblings, parents, and other relatives in the same or other generations who were born in the same county or nearby

I Can't the Person Who I'm Looking For, What Now?

 * Look for variant spellings of the names. You should also look for nicknames and abbreviated names
 * Look for another index. Local genealogical and historical societies often have indexes to local records
 * Search the indexes and records of nearby counties
 * Consult the New Hampshire Record Finder to find other records

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

Other FamilySearch Collections
These collections may have additional materials to help you with your research.

FamilySearch Catalog

 * New Hampshire. Registrar of Vital Statistics; New Hampshire. Registrar of Vital Statistics, Index to births, early to 1900
 * New Hampshire Division of Vital Statistics. New Hampshire birth certificates, 1901-1909

FamilySearch Historical Records

 * New Hampshire, Vital and Town Records Index, 1656-1938
 * New Hampshire, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1636-1947
 * New Hampshire Births and Christenings, 1714-1904
 * New Hampshire Birth Certificates, 1901-1915

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.