Birth records provide an abundance of information for a family researcher. Besides verifying when and where an individual was born, these records contain details about the parents. In addition to the parent’s names, the father’s occupation, the parent’s residence and sometimes their ages are examples of data that might be included. Birth records though are not readily available and with valid reason.
In the current day of identity theft, many state and government organizations limit access to these documents. Sometimes, a governing body will only release birth information after a certain number of years when the person on the record would no longer be living. Often the records are unavailable, especially on the internet, except by a few states, such as West Virginia. WV began registering births in the 1850s and the state releases births that are over 101 years old. Having these accounts available online has been a useful tool in my family research for West Virginia.
Conducting a search on the WV website is relatively simple. If searching a popular name, use additional pieces of information, such as selecting an approximate timespan of several years or a particular county of birth to narrow the results and increase the speed of finding the right person quickly. In the name fields the asterisk can also be used as a wildcard, so if you are looking for Charles, but unsure if maybe Charley or Chas was used on the registration, “Cha*” can be used to pull all first names that begin with those three letters.
On my family’s Fowler line, John Fowler, the earliest Fowler ancestor identified thus far, settled in Monongalia County around the late 18th century when this area was still part of Virginia; during the Civil War this county became part of the new state of West Virginia. This county borders Fayette County Pennsylvania and it appears John’s descendants moved between the two counties and states. Fortunately, a number of these relatives lived in Monongalia County and they can be found in the birth registrations during the 19th century.
A search for the Fowler surname in the birth records available for Monongalia County, WV produces 49 results. Not all of the connections to my Fowler family for these 49 Fowlers have been identified, but it is thought most, if not all, are probably descendants of John Fowler who settled this county. Some are the offspring of John C. Fowler, grandson of John Fowler. Children for John C. and his second wife in the birth registry included: Susan Levina, David James, Jacob L., and Joshua Garrison who were all born between 1856 and 1862.
My great great-grandfather, John P. Fowler, son of John C. mentioned above, was believed to have lived most of his life in Monongalia County. Records for his children vary as to whether their birthplace was Pennsylvania or West Virginia, but when reviewing the births for Monongalia County, only his youngest son, Asa Fowler, born in 1861, was located. It’s possible that his children were all born in this county, but for some reason the births were never recorded. Another scenario could be that his wife went a short distance across the border to PA to be with her family when it was time for her to give birth. Not finding birth records for his children leaves many unanswered questions.
Other surnames connected to the Fowler family who lived in West Virginia are Chipps, Conn, Feather, Hayden, and Lyons, with some of these families found in the surrounding counties. In Monongalia County, Margaret Darling, born in 1910 in VanVoorhis, is the 3rd great granddaughter of the first John Fowler. Her birth was one of the more recent to be listed on the web.
Having birth registrations available online for West Virginia has been very useful in my family research, especially since WV records extend back to the 1850s and each year additional ones should be released. With these documents I have determined my relationship to some Fowlers born in Monongalia County by confirming they descend from John C. Fowler. Although not all Fowler descendants resided in West Virginia, for those who did, I hope to identify their proper place in the Fowler tree. Some of these Fowlers might be more distantly related, but with the availability of the information in the West Virginia birth records, the task should be easier to accomplish.
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