Washington Birth Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States WashingtonKing County

What Is in the Collection?
This collection consists of an index and images from the Washington State Archives to delayed birth records for Kings County from 1941-1942.

Births were recorded for public health purposes. Birth certificates were also issued to individuals as legal documents. In cases where an individual’s birth had not been recorded, it was not uncommon for that individual to apply for a delayed birth registration since the certificate was needed to receive government benefits.

Individuals who were born prior to 1907, or who did not have a birth certificate, may have applied for a delayed birth certificate at a superior court or at the State Department of Health. Washington began keeping delayed birth records in 1907. Many unrecorded births were finally registered during World War II or as people applied for Social Security.

What Can This Collection Tell Me?
Delayed birth records usually contain the following information:


 * Name of person requesting delayed birth certificate
 * Current residence
 * Name of child for whom certificate is requested
 * Child's date and place of birth
 * Name of any attendee at birth
 * Father's name, current residence, race and birthplace
 * Mother's maiden name, current residence, race and birth place
 * Names and affidavits of two (2) witnesses and their residence

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know at least some of the following:
 * The name of the child at birth.
 * The approximate date of birth.
 * The place where the birth occurred.
 * The name of the child's parents.

Fill in the requested information in the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information in the list to what you already know about your ancestor to determine if it is the correct family or person. You may need to compare several persons in the list before you find your ancestor.

Search by Name by visiting the Collection Page:

For tips about searching on-line collections see the wiki article FamilySearch Search Tips and Tricks.

What Do I Do Next?
If these are indexes, the original records may contain additional information than was not indexed, or the information might have been indexed incorrectly. You may want to search for the original record at the National Archives.

I Found Who I Was Looking For, What Now?

 * Copy the citation below, in case you need to find this record again later.
 * Use the age or estimated birth date to find other county or Washington Vital Records such as birth, baptism, marriage, and death records.
 * Search for death or burial information in Washington Cemeteries and Washington Newspapers.
 * Use the information found in the record to find Washington Land and Property records.
 * Use the information found in the record to find Washington Probate Records.
 * Use the information found in the record to find Washington Emigration and Immigration records.
 * Use the information found in the record to find additional family members in the Washington Census records. Witnesses were usually 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?

 * If your ancestor does not have a common name, collect entries for every person who has the same surname. This list can help you find possible relatives.
 * If you cannot locate your ancestor in the locality in which you believe they lived, then try searching a nearby locality Oregon Vital Records.
 * Try different spellings of your ancestor’s name.
 * Remember that sometimes individuals went by nicknames or alternated between using first and middle names. Try searching for these names as well.
 * Check the info box above for additional FamilySearch websites and related websites that may assist you in finding similar records.

Citing This Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image.

Collection Citation:

Record Citation (or citation for the index entry): Image Citation: