I'd like to thank all the wonderful people on the Rootsweb lists that I belong to. With your help, a birth record for my Lizzie Kelley was found for Hadley, MA (thanks Monica!), and I got some good information on other records to search for. I guess most of us know that the US censuses aren't perfect, but they sure are pretty important. Good luck to all of you. ~Patsy~ ----- Original Message ----- From: PatsiGen To: Kelly List ; kelley@rootsweb.com Cc: Kerry List Sent: Wednesday, February 06, 2008 1:03 PM Subject: NY Birth Records Hi all. I'm hoping someone could help me on the next step I should take to try to find a birth record. My KELLY ancestors all emigrated from Glenflesk, Co. Kerry between the years of 1870 and 1883. I believe one of the first ones to arrive in America was DENNIS KELLY (also went by KELLEY). He married Ellen McCARTHY from Mineville, NY, and their only daughter, Lizzie, was born in June 1888, according to the 1900 US Census. This census also says she was born in New York. So, I believe Dennis was in New York, and met his wife in NY. Dennis and his family eventually moved to Hadley, Massachusetts. Dennis died in June 1898, and his will stated that his daughter would be sent to Mineville, NY and be under guardianship of her uncle, Rev. FLORENCE MCCARTHY. Sure enough, Mineville is where I found his wife and daughter in the 1900 census mentioned above. Ellen and Lizzie were living with the Rev. Florence McCarthy. Lizzie's birth year was confirmed to be around 1888 by the fact that her father died in June 1898, and she was "11" in the June 1900 census. I had sent a request for her birth certificate copy to the New York State Department of Health Vital Records Section early in 2007. I paid for a 3-year search. I've just received word that they could not find her birth record. One of my questions is, would it be unusual for a child not to have registered birth record? I realize that the census information is not always accurate, but because Ellen McCarthy can be found in Mineville, NY in the 1880 and 1900 censuses, I am sure Dennis must have met her in NY. I found a Dennis Kelley in NY in the 1880 census, but he lived in another county. The 1890 census records burned in a fire, so I cannot track Dennis' whereabouts after 1880, except that I know he lived in Hadley, MA next to my great-grandfather, his brother. Dennis was buried in Hadley, but Ellen and Lizzie's names are not mentioned on his headstone. I do plan to ask the Town of Hadley to do a search for Lizzie's (Elizabeth Ann) birth record, but I don't expect to find it there. I do not know what happened to Ellen and Lizzie after they were in the 1900 census (or when they went to Mineville in 1898). So, does anyone know of another way to go about this? Any ideas on how to find a birth record for Lizzie? Thanks, ~Patsy~ Researching KELLY and O'DONOGHUE of the Iron Mills (aka Old Forge) area of Glen Flesk. (Patrick KELLY married Ellen O'DONOGHUE of Rusheenmore in 1834.)