Looking for birth records for Horatio Jones Gwin, b. PA, abt 1809, for Mayflower application.

Question

Parents John and Mary McLeod Gwin.  Married to Lucinda Newcomb, b. OH, 5 Apr 1819.  

Have information from Newcomb family histories.  Need paper documentation for application.  Any help appreciated.

Comments

If you can find enough secondary sources to support the information that would have been recorded on the birth certificate, you may not need a copy of the certificate itself.

For my Mayflower application, I had one person that I just could not get a death certificate for.  I got a letter from the town saying that they could not find the certificate and I had copies of the Census records for her whole life as well as a photo of her joint tombstone with her husband.  The connection was marked as "C2" instead of "C1" but it was good enough for them to approve my membership.

So, keep looking for your certificate, but don't let it hold up your application.  The state historian can tell you what secondary sources will be enough to prove the connection.

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Are you just looking for Horatio's birth info? Or are you looking for anything from Newcomb as well? I ask because since it looks like Lucinda Newcomb is a line carrier to Bradford, hers will need to be rock solid. To prove Horatio's birth info, you might be able to show two consecutive census records showing his birth was in ~1809 in Pennsylvania.

Most locations didn't start keeping birth certificates this early, so, secondary sources will likely be the only things you will be able to use - but you will generally need multiple secondary sources to prove each fact without a primary source (with some caveats, though). It is much better to find as much documentation as you can to accompany your application.

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I am actually going to need documentation on Lucinda Newcomb death records, as well.  And her father, James Newcomb's marriage record. So, yes, I will need to find some more there.

Thought I would just go for one record at a time here on G2G.

I have several secondary sources for Horatio Gwin.  And found a reference to an obit in the newspaper.  

Thanks for your reply.  All help appreciated.