The question was: "Does any one know if the birth records for 1810-1815 are available for Hunterdon and Sussex counties. I am looking for one George Dailey born abt Sept 1812, possibly in Sussex county." A general answer to this question is "NO". Birth records were not required by any governmental authority at this early date. I am not sure when they were required, but it must not have been until the late 1800s. The Hunterdon Gazette did not list any births during its existence from 1825 through 1866 and I am not sure when the Hunterdon Democrat started their listing. Most birth records were kept by local churches and so you must determine which one the person in whom you are interested might have been a member and then hopefully those records are still extant. Regards, Bill

The state of NJ began recording births, marriages, and deaths, in 1848. These were initially recorded in register form and when you send away for a record from the NJ State Archives, you will get a copy of the whole page that contains the name you requested. In the earlier years, the record might not be available, as the compliance rate was rather low. Beginning in 1878, individual certificates were issued. The compliance rate is much improved but doesn't approach 100% until after the 20th century. If you have a death date, you might get the birth date (or pretty close to it) from the death record. Again, registration began in 1848, with a column for age at death. Beginning with 1878, age at death was recorded in years and months. Sometime after 1900, the actual birth date was recorded on the death certificate. Of course it should be remembered that the amount of information filled in depended on the amount known and made available to the registrar. Hope this helps, Helen

Jan: I am on vacation down in Florida without my genealogy record books. Just in case, would you please look up Philhower? Thanks in advance Bob Philhower