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Archiver > APG > 2008-12 > 1230391007
From: "Peggy Baldwin at Family Passages" <>
Subject: Re: [APG] Pennsylvania Birth Certificates
Date: Sat, 27 Dec 2008 07:16:47 -0800
References: <4CCA98E727754B69838536EEDCBE0F16@YOUR58BA15CF1B><-88523964480867667@unknownmsgid>
In-Reply-To: <-88523964480867667@unknownmsgid>
I'm weighing in on the side of derivative source, because the copy of
the record was made much later than the original. My husband received
the marriage record of his grandfather, typed by the current day
clerk, with the name of his great-grandfather on it. The clerk had
mistranscribed the name to be Kenneth, when it really was Kennett.
When a copy is made from the original, especially by someone many
years later errors are introduced by the clerk's unfamiliarily with
the times and the people.
Peggy
---------------------------
Peggy Baldwin, MLS
Family Passages LLC
www.family-passages.com
On Sat, Dec 27, 2008 at 5:18 AM, EILEEN SOUZA <> wrote:
> Richard
>
> "... as a legal and practical matter, record copies officially created and
> maintained by public record offices are treated as 'original' records, when
> the actual original is not known to exist." (8.5, "Local and State Records:
> Courts"
> chapter)
>
> I agree, but only if the original does not exist. I am just trying to
> determine if an original does exist, at least, in Pennsylvania. Whether
> original or derivative, the certified record is still one of my sources. My
> query is from a genealogical point of view not a legal one. To me, a copy
> of the document that was completed by the attending physician, who was
> actually present at the time of the actual birth, is more meaningful than a
> document spit out by a computer 100 years later.
>
> My memory of the footprint record is that the hospitals did this for
> identity purposes in case a baby was stolen. I don't know whether this was
> a Pennsylvania law or whether hospitals chose to do this on their own.
>
>
> Eileen Souza
>
> Eldersburg, MD 21784
>
>
>
>
>
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--
Peggy Baldwin, MLS
Family Passages LLC
www.family-passages.com
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