What does a person do now? You try to find as many original records as you can. Some places I find vital information for people who don't seem to be in the vital records. You can't always find the exact dates, but you can sometimes narrow it down to either a span of years or months. First find out what was considered the age of legal adulthood in the area you're searching. I think in most cases it was 21 for men and 18 for women, but not everywhere, and not for all times. That way you know they had to have been at least a certain age to get married without parental consent, or buy and sell property. 1. Family bibles - These are great if you can find them. 2. Land records - I've found marriage records stuck in with the land records 3. Graveyards - I haunt them frequently, but some tombstones are almost impossible to read. 4. Probate records - Sometimes these records mention not only the names, but also the ages and birthdays of minor children. 5. Church records 6. Other court records - These may not always give you ages, but they sure can be interesting reading sometimes, as well as explaining why some of our ancestors did things the way they did. 7. Town histories 8. Funeral home and undertaker records - If you can find out where they've gone to. 9. Census records - After 1850 you at least get an age and state or country of birth. Earlier ones you have to guess who's who other than the head of the family. Later ones also include states the parents were born in, and month and year of birth, depending on each one. Some states also took a census on off years. Hope this helps Marcie Crocker At 09:52 AM 8/17/1999 EDT, you wrote: >In a message dated 8/17/99 6:53:32 AM Mountain Daylight Time, >mbevins@sover.net writes: > ><< Many births were not recorded in town or state records. Before 1856 there >was no > legal requirement. After 1856 there are still gaps as enforcement of the 1856 > law was not consistent between towns. >> > >Please explain how so many people can say they have their ancestors traced >back to year _____ when there are no birth or death records before certain >dates? I have exact birth dates and death dates, but when I contact the town >clerk, etc. they say, "We have no records before 18__. How does one go about >"proving" their lineage? Seems like there's always been a flood, a fire or an >earthquake, etc that has destroyed the records. Does that end your research? >I have my gggrandparent's dates and places of birth marriage and death, but >when I called the town clerk for records, she said they didn't have records >back then, (1800, 1823, 1850 and 1877) and this has happened to me more than >once, (Chicago, IL, Caledonia, MO, Hardwick, MA and AuSable, NY) So what does >a person do now? >Thanks >marykell > > >