On Fri, 2 Mar 2007 11:09:07 -0600, "W. D. Smith" <[email protected]> wrote: >I understand Ohio began keeping both birth and death records in 1867. My >grandfather William L. Smith gave his birthdate as August 17, 1889. Is there >a birth index for Cuhahoga County for that time period that I can check? He >grew up in Lorain, but there's no guarantee that he was actually born there. >I suspect he may actually have been born in Cuyahogah County. Take a look at... http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~officer/CuyOhFAQ.html and http://www.ohiohistory.org/resource/archlib/brthdth1.html#birthbetween1867and1908 It might have been required before 1908, but you will find that this requirement was often ignored. IOW, you will be lucky to find a birth record before 1908. You might want to look for church records instead. -- Dennis Kowallek Cincinnati, Ohio [email protected] ******************