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Thanks for the explanation.

Just one question (which you’ve probably already answered before; sorry). Hmm. And now I think I remember what you said. The list would be sorted by the first letter in the last name (so Obama would be listed under the O’s) but the names entered in chronological order. So there would be a chronological list of everybody born with a last name starting with O, and a chronological list of everybody born with a last name starting with each different letter of the alphabet.

Information that could be included would be the date of birth, parents’ names, and (possibly) certificate number. Do I remember that right? The index would help locate the actual certificate if it listed the certificate number? Or maybe there was a file location listed. My husband’s BC has a local file number listed on it as well as the certificate number. Maybe a local file number would be used as the “call number” to help locate the BC.

This is for everyone who doesn’t know what we’re talking about. As always, each state does things their own way so ymmv.

Anyway, let’s say there was a birth index book for years 1960-1965, it would list all the births recorded for those years and it would be easily opened so extra pages could be added as needed (red flag!). The books themselves are about the size of a legal sheet of paper (”about” meaning sort of so don’t quote me on the exact measurement) and is lined across like notebook paper with a line top to bottom to provide two columns.

The pages are divided with alphabetical tabs so that you can find the person’s last name more easily than having to flip through the entire book. So yes, all the babies born with a last name beginning with “O” would be together. Parents would also be listed by their last names, but parents might not have the same last name as the baby so would be under their prospective alphabetical tab. That’s where the cross reference comes in.

Yes, the names are entered by hand in chronological order by last name. As we all know, there will be more last names beginning with A, L, and M than Q, X, and Z so that’s the reason for having books that can easily be opened and have pages added as needed.

Now comes the tricky part since every state does their own thing. Every entry should be allowed one line so if the baby is listed in the left column then you can see that the amount of room is limited in the right column for further information to be entered. HI may or may not have listed any or all of the following - birth date, page number and volume where the b/c is located, and certificate number and maybe the parents names for the baby’s entry and the baby’s name for the parents entry. If anything, they should have written in the page number and volume where the b/c is located and parents/baby names.

FYI, this should be the same with death records (cough, cough).

I’m thinking your husband’s local file number would be the page and volume his b/c would be found in the local (county clerk?) office. Did you tell me that HI doesn’t have county clerk offices? Or it could be the county clerk penciled in their filing number which is when it first went through their office.