Document F.391 · birth index · transcription: verbatim
"Index of Births in New Jersey - Sussex County - 1902-1906", the New Jersey State Archives' typescript index, the page covering surnames beginning Co- for 1904-1905 - carrying two Cooper entries, W.& C. 10 October 1904 (vol. 11 p. 464) and A.& S. 30 December 1904 (vol. 11 p. 455); Ancestry collection 61252 image i2252911-00259.
- repository
- New Jersey State Archives, Trenton - Birth Indexes
- collection
- New Jersey, U.S., Birth Index, 1848-1878, 1901-1929 - Ancestry collection 61252, record 6033961
- identifier
- Ancestry image i2252911-00259, record 6033961. The collection description calls it "images of an index to births occurring in New Jersey between 1848 and 1878, and 1901 and 1929". Note the citation Ancestry prints on these records is WRONG for this page - it reads "New Jersey Births, 1878-1890", while the page's own printed heading is 1902-1906. The page is preferred.
- date
- 1904
View image on Ancestry (subscription required)
People named
| As written | Role | Identified as | What this document says |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cooper, W. | referenced | Warren Edgar Cooper 1874–1938 candidate | |
| Cooper, C. | referenced | Carrie F. (McDavitt) Cooper 1880–1957 candidate | |
| Cooper, A. | referenced | Albert Alvin Cooper 1878–1949 candidate | |
| Cooper, S. | referenced | Sadie Ann (McDavitt) Cooper 1884 candidate | |
| Cooper, A.& S. [child], 30 Dec 1904 | referenced | Charles T Cooper 1904–1905 candidate |
What this document records
The printed heading verbatim
"INDEX OF BIRTHS IN NEW JERSEY - Sussex County - 1902-1906", over four ruled columns headed "SURNAME", "CHRISTIAN NAME OR PARENTS' INITIALS", "DATE", "VOLUME" and "PAGE".
The rows as printed
Nine consecutive rows, transcribed in full so the carry-down convention can be checked: Cooper | W.& C. | 4 Oct. 10 | 11 | 464 Coss | F.& T. | 17 | 11 | 657 Chamberlain | Ruthie | 28 | 9 | 526 Conkling | Z.& L. | 4 Nov. 10 | 11 | 173 Conklin | Robert | 14 | 11 | 161 Courtright | Charles | 4 Dec. 9 | 12 | 47 Crisman | Virgil | 24 | 12 | 283 Cooper | A.& S. | 30 | 11 | 455
Reading notes: how the date column works and it is the one thing to get right
The DATE column holds year, month, day - but the year and month are written ONLY on the row where they change, and carry down until replaced. 4 is 1904. So the eight rows above run 10 Oct 1904, 17 Oct, 28 Oct, 10 Nov, 14 Nov, 9 Dec, 24 Dec, 30 Dec - all 1904. => Cooper, W.& C. is 10 OCTOBER 1904 and Cooper, A.& S. is 30 DECEMBER 1904. The carry-down is read off the page, not assumed - that is why all nine rows are transcribed above rather than only the two Coopers. Ancestry's index agrees independently for the first: its record 6033961 gives Birth Date 10 Oct 1904.
Reading notes: the children are not named and the column head explains why
The second column is headed "CHRISTIAN NAME OR PARENTS' INITIALS", and both Cooper rows use the second form. This index enters a child by its parents' initials when the child had no given name - which is what the register itself recorded for a birth registered before naming, and is exactly the shape an infant death leaves. Other rows on the same page carry given names (Ruthie, Robert, Charles, Virgil), so the two forms sit side by side and the choice is the clerk's, not the indexer's.
Reading notes: volume and page are the pointer to the actual return
W.& C. -> volume 11, page 464. A.& S. -> volume 11, page 455. These are citations into the NJSA's bound birth-return volumes, and the returns themselves carry what an index never does: the child's sex, the parents' full names, residence and the father's occupation. They are also, per [[reference_njsa_vital_records_access_boundary]], POST-1878 - so the images are index-only on Ancestry and padlocked on FamilySearch. Reaching volume 11 pages 455 and 464 means a FamilySearch Center visit or an NJSA order, and the two pages are nine apart in one volume, so they are one errand. See the todos.
What this document does not say
It gives no given name for either child, no sex, no township within Sussex County, no parents' full names, and no indication whether either child survived. It is an index and says only that a birth was registered.