This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/EKB.2ACE/775.1 Message Board Post: Birth Certificates did not start in Missouri until 1910. I presume the James Homer Burress you refer to is found in the Social Security Death Index as follows (courtesy Ancestry.com): Name: James Burress SSN: 432-10-5896 Last Residence: 72901 Fort Smith, Sebastian, Arkansas, United States of America Born: 2 Sep 1902 Last Benefit: 72901 Fort Smith, Sebastian, Arkansas, United States of America Died: Oct 1985 State (Year) SSN issued: Arkansas (Before 1951 ) Assuming this is the case, a SS-5 form – the copy of the original application for a Social Security Number – can be ordered for about $27 from the Social Security Administration. The SS-5 does list the parents of the applicant. Another possible source is a birth announcement in a local paper (not really typical in 1902 like today but sometimes can be found). The problem with historic newspapers is they are widely inaccessible with the main source being in microfilm format at the MO State Historical Society in Columbia, MO.