GENEALOGY RESOURCES 
City Directories: Vital Records—Births

Not all old city directories had Vital Records sections; but, if you have been unable to find a birth document for one of your ancestors, try looking in the city directory where his parents resided.

The date of birth and the sex of the child is often listed along with the parents’ names in tables like the one shown above. Your QHGS Blogger has used city directory birth records to find dates unavailable elsewhere.

RESEARCH NOTE: Statistical tables like these are not primary sources, but they can lead you to a birth certificate filed with the city, county or state. And, when the directory is for a city in a state that did not begin to record births until after the date of the directory, a list like this may be the only document you find to prove a birth date in your family’s history.