Document F.387 · birth index entry · transcription: partial
"New Jersey Births and Christenings, 1660-1931" index entry, FHL film 4021838 - the birth of an unnamed KINNEY child to Maggie L. Cooper and Albert P. Kinney; no date, no place, no given name carried in the index.
- repository
- FamilySearch index, served as Ancestry collection 2539
- collection
- "New Jersey, U.S., Births and Christenings Index, 1660-1931", Ancestry collection 2539, record 300055711. Ancestry's own source note: '"New Jersey Births and Christenings, 1660-1931." Index. FamilySearch, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2009, 2010. Index entries derived from digital copies of original and compiled records.'
- identifier
- FHL Film Number 4021838; Ancestry record 300055711
People named
| As written | Role | Identified as | What this document says |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maggie L Cooper | mother | Margaret Luella (Cooper) Kinney 1870–1935 probable | |
| Albert P Kinney | father | Albert P. Kinney 1870–1944 probable | |
| Kinney | child |
What this document records
What it actually is
IT IS NOT MAGGIE'S OWN BIRTH, AND THAT IS THE POINT OF THIS ENTRY. Ancestry's suggested-records panel offers this row against Margaret Luella (Cooper) Kinney under the heading "New Jersey, U.S., Births and Christenings Index" with her name on it, which reads as HER birth record. Opened, it is a birth on which SHE IS THE MOTHER: Name "Maggie L Cooper", Spouse "Albert P Kinney", Child "Kinney". Ancestry labels it a "non primary record" for exactly that reason.
Why it matters anyway
IT IS EVIDENCE OF A SECOND CHILD. [G.693] and [G.694], the parents' memorials, link ONE child between them - Luella Howell (Kinney) Van Syckle, 1894-1964 - and Margaret Luella (Cooper) Kinney recorded that as one child KNOWN rather than one child born, because Find a Grave panels are routinely partial. This index row is an independent birth that is not hers.
What it does not give
NO GIVEN NAME for the child - the index carries only the surname "Kinney". NO DATE. NO COUNTY OR TOWNSHIP, only "New Jersey". So it establishes the fact of a birth and nothing about it.
And it corroborates the marriage from a third direction
The row pairs "Maggie L Cooper" with "Albert P Kinney" as spouses. That is a third independent source for the marriage, after the two memorial panels ([G.693], [G.694]) and the state marriage index ([C.172]) - and, like [C.172], it files her under her MAIDEN name.
Transcription and notes
What this row actually is, why it matters anyway, and what it does not give are in the
coverage: header and are not repeated here.
Data from the index [verbatim]
| field | as given |
|---|---|
| Name | Maggie L Cooper |
| Gender | Female |
| Residence Place | New Jersey, USA |
| Spouse | Albert P Kinney |
| Child | Kinney |
| FHL Film Number | 4021838 |
(That is the whole record. There is no date, no county, no township and no given name for the child.)
Notes
- A caution for the suggested-records habit. The standing rule is to work every suggested record on a panel. This one is a reminder that a suggestion carrying the person's name under a BIRTH collection need not be their birth - here it is a birth at which she was present as a parent. Checking cost one click; assuming would have put a false birth date on [p.2490].
- It also confirms a null elsewhere: a sweep of this collection for Cooper births in Warren County found none of [p.621]'s seven children, and this row shows why the suggested "birth index" hits for his daughters do not contradict that - they are mother-role rows, not births.