New Hampshire Birth Records, Early to 1900

When the http://www.familysearch.org/ site had a notification, in the late summer of 2009, announcing that they now had the New Hampshire Birth Records, Early to 1900, now online, I almost fell off my chair. These records are currently located from the Search Records Tab, then drop down tab, Record Search Pilot at the main page of the Family Search site, and a few more steps. To make it easier for those search these records, the direct link is: http://pilot.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.html#p=collectionDetails;c=1542861 .


I don't have many direct lines in New Hampshire, but do have a lot of names of those born in the state. They are mostly siblings or others somehow related to my ancestors. I think the state of New Hampshire has a very confusing method of putting their records on microfilm. It is not in alphabetical order, that's for sure. No matter how many times, I asked the staff at the New England Historic and Genealogical Society (NEHGS) how to find a name, I never was able to grasp the method in the wonderful world of discovering birth records from New Hampshire. I soon gave up with that state.


Back to almost falling off my chair. Once at the New Hampshire site, I did one quick entry of a first and last name, and instantly, it brought up the person I was interested in. Simple and so easy. Getting the results was something I never thought I'd be able to get from the microfilm. Quickly, I did a custom report through my Family Tree Maker data base. There were about 150 names of those born in New Hampshire. Sure, I was able to cross off those born after 1900, but that amounted to about five people. With my list of seven pages, I got right to it.


Finding a record not only allows you to view the actual record, but also copy a modified transcript of the record directly to your data base. This includes the name, date, and location of birth, parent's names and film number. I am now done entering 105 sources for my New Hampshire lines, and am patiently waiting for the marriages and deaths for that state. I truly thank the volunteers who tackled these records.