Looking for my father's place and date of birth

Thank you for posting your request on History Hub! We regret the delayed response.

The CDC's National Center for Health Statistics website tells how to obtain birth, death, marriage, and divorce records from state and territorial agencies. For more information and resources on vital records please visit our Vital Records webpage.

If you know where he died, but not when and where he was born, you can try searching for a death certificate, as this might also include birth information, if it was known to whomever reported the death. The same might also be true of marriage records.  

Also, you can search for him on the US Census, as this generally gives his age on the enumeration date, as well as his state or country of birth. For information about the U.S. Census, see the Decennial Census of Population and Housing Technical Documentation as well as NARA’s page on Census Records.  You may also contact the National Archives in Washington, DC - Textual Reference (RR1R) via email at archives1reference@nara.gov. 

The web page Search Census Records Online and Other Resources provides information about accessing these records online. There may be a fee for using Ancestry. Please check for access at your local library as many library systems subscribe to these sites, making them free for their patrons. FamilySearch can be accessed with a free account.

Another option might be Selective Service records. If he was old enough to register for the draft during World War II, his draft card may also be on Ancestry, and it would include his date of birth.

You might also try searching the Social Security Death Index available on FamilySearch with a free account.

We hope this assists you with your research!

Thank you for posting your request on History Hub! We regret the delayed response.

The CDC's National Center for Health Statistics website tells how to obtain birth, death, marriage, and divorce records from state and territorial agencies. For more information and resources on vital records please visit our Vital Records webpage.

If you know where he died, but not when and where he was born, you can try searching for a death certificate, as this might also include birth information, if it was known to whomever reported the death. The same might also be true of marriage records.  

Also, you can search for him on the US Census, as this generally gives his age on the enumeration date, as well as his state or country of birth. For information about the U.S. Census, see the Decennial Census of Population and Housing Technical Documentation as well as NARA’s page on Census Records.  You may also contact the National Archives in Washington, DC - Textual Reference (RR1R) via email at archives1reference@nara.gov. 

The web page Search Census Records Online and Other Resources provides information about accessing these records online. There may be a fee for using Ancestry. Please check for access at your local library as many library systems subscribe to these sites, making them free for their patrons. FamilySearch can be accessed with a free account.

Another option might be Selective Service records. If he was old enough to register for the draft during World War II, his draft card may also be on Ancestry, and it would include his date of birth.

You might also try searching the Social Security Death Index available on FamilySearch with a free account.

We hope this assists you with your research!