Birth records: search example

One of my friends had a great deal of trouble locating his great-great grandfather Burns. My friend thought that his great-great grandfather's name was "Theodore" and his nickname was "Ted."

click on image to enlarge

The first inkling that this was only part of the story came from the birth records of Ted's daughter, where he was listed as "M. T. Burns." See the image at the right.

As it turned out, grandpa's name was actually Matthew Theodore Burns. He went by "Ted" in everyday life, but used variations of M. T. and Matthew T. on official records.

• How to use birth records
• Helpful article at Ancestry.com on researching birth records

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