Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Boston Couldn't Find Fred Meagher's Birth Record... Now What?

On April 14, 2014, I went to Boston City Hall: Registry of Births, Marriages, and Deaths to find my 3x-great-grandfather Fredrick Joseph Meagher's birth record. I provided them with the following information:

Name: Frederick Joseph Meagher
Place of Birth: Boston / Charlestown
Date of Birth: Aug. 4, 1876
Name of Father: Michael
Name of Mother: Mary

I brought a copy of Fred's WWI Draft Registration Card, his marriage record to his first wife, Sarah j. McGinn, and his daughter Mary Elizabeth Caroline Meagher's birth record with me as proof.

After searching through their records, the clerk was unable to find his birth record. She found a birth record for Frederick Meagher, born 1876 to Daniel and Julia Fay. The only other birth record she was able to find for the name Frederick Meagher was for one born in September of 1881 to William and Mary.

At one point, I presented her with Fred's WWI Draft Registration Card as proof of his date of birth. The clerk looked it over, went over and grabbed a book, searched through it, and then came back over and told me that the code provided on the Draft Registration card is not correct.

The woman recommended I visit the Massachusetts State Archives as they would be able to assist me further. I did not mention to her that I have already been to the State Archives previously and they were unable to find Fred's birth record either.

Throughout my years of research, any record I have come across with Fred's place of birth listed on it names it as being either Boston or Charlestown.

But now with Boston being unable to find anything on it, I am not sure about where to go from here.  So my question is, now what?


Copyright © 2013, David J. McRae