“It is increasingly important for citizens of the United States to have their birth certificates. The recent requirement of a birth certificate for entrance into defense training and defense industries, civil service jobs and many types of work in private industry, has created a vast demand for information as to where and how to secure one’s birth certificate.”

Earl H. Davis, Birth Certificates: A Digest of the Laws and Regulations of the Various States, 1942

Many researchers contact the Utah State Archives for birth records, often for genealogy, but also to document rights and family relationships in these official government records. 

The State of Utah began keeping birth certificates in 1905. While there exist similar records before that date, they are scattered and sometimes only sparsely document the births in an area. As the opening quote makes clear, life in the United States came to require a birth certificate, but large numbers of adult Utahns born before 1905 simply did not have one. 

A delayed certificate of birth is a widely used type of record to cover the gap between when a state’s vital statistics program began and the new need for documentation. The Utah Office of Vital Records and Statistics’ delayed certificates of birth began in 1916, on the same forms as normally-registered birth certificates. It wasn’t until July 1941 that the Office (then known as the Division of Vital Statistics) approached the State Board of Health concerning the matter. As reported in the board minutes, “Utah is the only state in the union in which there is no provision for the filing of delayed records of births occurring prior to the enactment of the vital statistics law.”

The report of a memorandum (which is itself apparently not archived) provides a view from that time, confirming a nationwide trend in Utah:

“Dr. McKay read a memorandum, dated July 21, from Miss Eva Ramsey, Director of the Division of Vital Statistics, in which she requested the Board’s permission to establish a sub-division of delayed registration of births. In making this request she pointed out that the present national emergency has made it mandatory that all persons employed in defense industries present a birth certificate as proof of citizenship; also, that in view of the fact that the State has no birth records prior to 1905 persons born prior to that date are unable to obtain official proof of birth unless the medical attendant is still living.”

The Board unanimously passed after “lengthy discussion” the following:

“THAT the Board approve the setting up of a sub-division of delayed registration of births of the Division of Vital Statistics , and that the budget of $5,000, which is necessary in creating this sub-division, be approved.”

A new, standard form was presented as part of this consideration. Based on what was recommended by the U.S. Bureau of the Census, these differ from birth certificates, with a yellow background and specific fields for gathering the necessary proof for a later registration. What began informally in the mid-1910s now had dedicated staff, processes, and a way to provide Utah residents a service they needed from their government.

Belated or Delayed Filings were later codified in the Utah Code in 1953 with oversight by the Department of Health in necessary regulations. In a published “Statutes, Regulations, and Policies” manual from 1957, additional details are provided. Two complete proofs in the form of already-documented evidence were required for birth place, birth date, and parentage. Documentary proof could not be years after the birth or altered in any way. They also fell into two classes with “A” representing church records, census records, physician’s statement, or a family Bible. Class “B” included school records, insurance policies, voting registration, marriage applications, and others at the discretion of the registrar. In addition to the documents, an affidavit was required for each delayed registration application. These would be from older relatives, or a friend with knowledge of the birth if no blood relative was available.

You can now access these valuable records online, for free! Thanks to a decade-long effort, with partnerships between the Utah Office of Vital Records and Statistics, the Division of Archives and Records Service, and FamilySearch International, plus committed archivists, and countless volunteers, over 30,000 newly available delayed birth certificates are indexed and available in the Digital Archives.

Sources

• Utah State Archives and Records Service, Department of Health and Human Services, Administrative records, Series 1092
• Utah State Archives and Records Service, Board of Health, Minutes, Series 2565