Many Births were not recorded and This Transcription Has Not Been Proofed!
If you locate a record you are looking for great! But if you don't find a record that does not mean it does not exist.
The following transcriptions are found here:
These births have been transcribed from microfilm. The earliest contemporaneously-recorded Story County births were in 1880. However, some earlier births were recorded after that. Many births were not recorded at the county level. Some of these may exist at in State records but those are not easily accessible. Illegitimate births have been obscured in the registers and therefore will not be found here.
In this transcription the dates have been converted to the format "dd mmm yyyy", some abbreviations such as "M" for "Male" are replaced with the full word, and place names have been standardized except where ambiguous. I have added comments, usually about problems interpreting the handwritten records, and sometimes to include information from the register that didn't fit under the other headings. I have also in a few instances included information about what the family name really was, if different from the birth record. Sometimes fields in the registers were not filled in, even date of birth and name of mother. When the child's surname is left blank, I use that of the father. When the date of birth is missing, the date of the return if present usually can give you an general idea of the birth date, but not necessarily. Sometimes a doctor would submit birth records long after the event took place.
The information included for each birth varies by the source.
Names in the registers are sometimes obviously recorded incorrectly. "Also Known As" (AKA) names have been included for the family name (father's surname), child's surname (who might have gone by a different name as an adult), and for the mother's maiden name. Sources for each AKA are included.
In the Registers the mother's current surname was often left blank. It is almost certainly the same as the father's in those instances, however I have left it blank in these records. Other times it seems that the mother's married name was placed in the maiden name field, but I have copied those as entered because sometimes the maiden and married names are indeed the same.
Mistakes may have been introduced at many levels, beginning with what was recorded in the original register. The handwriting was sometimes difficult to read which has certainly introduced more errors. Remember, if it isn't here that doesn't mean the birth didn't occur and if it is located here it remains your responsibility to verify the information. If any of the births are important to your research, I urge you to view the records yourself on microfilm or at the courthouse in Nevada, Iowa. If you have corrections for the data, please let me know.
Story County Birth Registers Vol. 1 1880-1890 and Vol. 2 1890-1898 are found in the Family History Library Catalog of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on microfilm number 1404577. Story County Birth Record Vol. 3 1897-1908, Birth Certificates Vol. 3 1909-1912, Birth Record Vol. 3c 1914-1916, Birth Certificates Vol. 4 1909-1912, Birth Record Vol. 5 1918-1933, and Birth-Delayed Birth Record 1871-1943 are found on microfilm number 1404578.
Please E-Mail Mark Christian with your questions, comments, or suggestions.