First time ever paying money to view a source

Question

My mother said that her maternal grandmother was adopted.

The state of Oregon has her birth certificate and is willing to share it with me for a fee.

I've waited over 3 years hoping they would release the information for free to no avail.

Today is finally the day... the first time I'm paying money for a record.

Then the waiting game with fingers crossed hoping it provides answers.

Wish me luck!

Comments

Hope you find the information you want to see on the birth certificate.

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Good luck. Fingers crossed that the critical fields have useful data in them.

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Good luck Keith!

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Wish you good luck Keith

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I hope the wait isn't too long!

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Hope it reveals names, unique enough to make the search for this new tree twig, an easy adventure.

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The financial transaction is complete; no going back now to "never paid".

$10 for the birth certificate that I originally requested and $10 for another record search suggested by the very helpful person at the Oregon archive.

$20 total.

They said requests are usually filled within 7 business days and that I'll receive the records via email.

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Keith you got away cheaply. I've always paid $20 for death certificates. Come to think of it maybe I've never ordered a birth certificate.

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The birth records arrived!

And I can't tell if she was adopted or not.

I wish an expert could take a gander at the details and spot something revealing:

https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/491061/please-interpret-birth-certificate-proof-against-adoption

 

Answer 1

You've been waiting 3 years... you can wait another... 3 weeks :)

Hope you find you you're looking for on that paper.

Answer 2

I am afraid that as governments have an ever increasing demand for revenues, the days of free information will dwindle.

Answer 3

I have occasionally paid $$ for source information. And I have paid a researcher in Croatia to pull church records when there is no other option.

Answer 4

Good for you, Keith! I've tried holding out hoping that things would change in the past, and had little to no luck with that approach. A couple of years ago I decided to pay for a source for my wife's family - a great grandfather who we inherited his US Flag that was given at his burial for his service to our country. Unfortunately, they didn't give any details. So we went on a hunt. We thought... hmm... Coast Guard. They're on the water there in Delaware. Maybe he served there. Sent in the fee and application. Got both back - rejected. No records found. Tried again. Maybe Navy? Nope - got them back again. Haven't tried since then, but it's a hunt and peck thing with them.

Good luck on your request. Hope you had better luck than I did.

Comments

I could get a grainy copy of the document to show up - don't have Fold3 access myself. Hmm... it shows up as U.S. Government (Engineering Department) - there appears to be a bit more - address and such. I'm curious now what that address is. I'll have to see if there's access at the library.

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I think I saw one more item - place of employment - U.S. Tug "Chester" and it states he was working in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Hmm... maybe he worked the docks as a tugboat worker?

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My day is a success ! Once again I have driven an innocent WIKITREER to the edge. Haahaaahaa.

Manhattan Project had several locations.

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https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_Experiment

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Looks like the address - 2nd and Chestnut St. in Philadelphia appears to be some sort of federal building - maybe customs, passports, and the like. Could be they also managed the harbors and water traffic.

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HA! LOVE THAT! Good one Eddie!

Cloaking experiments... I won't rule it out.

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That reminds me, The Final Countdown where a US Naval aircraft carrier goes back in time is back on either Amazon Prime or Netflix - great movie. Will have to watch it while it's out there.

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Checking - Frankford, Delaware to Chester, Pennsylvania would have been a 2 hour drive by today's standards. More back in the 1940's. Seems like an awfully long distance to get to work. I suppose it's possible that if the water traffic went up and down the Delaware River to the Delaware Bay that he could have got on at a better location - maybe Dover? Port Mahon?

Brings up lots of questions that I will have to pose to my wife, for which I suspect she'll have no answers, but it's interesting regardless.

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Sylvester and Hester don't seem to be in the 1940 census for Delaware.

You got a mystery!

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His obit states that he became a carpenter later in life - perhaps he worked in the Engineering Department of the US Government (maybe customs or another governmental department?) on the Tug Boats doing carpentry repair work? It does kind of fit.