February 22, 2011 Dalton Family

Image via Wikipedia

Yesterday I posted information on the blog about the Dalton Family.  But I realize that using this information will not get you into the Daughters of the Confederacy, Daughters of American Revolution or anything without some kind of proof to back it up.

Generation #1
So let's start from the beginning.  First of all, you will need your birth certificate and if you are married, your marriage license.  If married, you will need your husband/wife's birth certificate also.  That should be easy to obtain.  If you can't find them around the house, then you can always order them from your State's Bureau of Vital Statistics.  Most places charge around $15.00  a document or less to send them to you.  Of course, if you are in a hurry for these, it will be more.  If you were married in Virginia and you know the County in which your license was recorded, you can send a request for your marriage license from there.  I found that the county clerk's office is much faster than the State's Bureau of Vital Statistics and much cheaper.

Okay, now we have the proof for who we are.  Since I am working on the Dalton aspect, I will use them as my examples.  I am working on the family of Albert L. Dalton.  Albert L. Dalton was my great grandfather.  So I have much information to gather before I even get to him.

Generation #2
Now Albert L. Dalton was on my mother's side of the family, but I still have to have my mother and my father's birth certificate and their marriage license.  And if one of them has passed away, I have to have their death certificate.  As before, these documents should be easy to find.  They are within the 20th century and most of these will be at the Bureau of Vital Statistics or at the County Clerk's Office.
So I've called my mother and told her what I am doing.  Just give your parents a few days and they will probably be able to rustle that information up for you.  If not, talk to them and find out what county in which they were married and you can order the marriage license from there or the Bureau of Vital Statistics.
I have collected my parent's birth certificate and their marriage license.  The birth certificate shows where they were born, date they were born, who their parents were. The marriage license will show their ages, their parents, where they were married and sometimes their occupation and who married them,

The Next phase is the discussions about the family with your parents or family members.  If your grandparents are still living, then you are very lucky.  Remember as I said before, take a camera with you.

Generation #3
You've collected all your information and your parent's information.  You have discussed the family with your family and now it is time to move on to your grandparents.  If your grandparents are still living, they will already be informed about what is going on.  Talk to them not only about their vital information, but about what they did as young people.  What they were doing when WWII began.  That sort of thing. This information is so precious and always more important.
My grandparents have passed away, but I know that they were married in Campbell County, Virginia. If I have specific information i.e. date of marriage and correctly spelled names, I can write the Clerk of the Campbell County Circuit Court Clerk's Office with the request for a copy.  There is a charge, of course, and you must send with the request a self addressed stamped envelope. We could not find some of the birth certificates or death certificates so I ordered those from the Bureau of Vital Statistics for $12.50 a document.  There is a form on the Bureau's Site which you can fill out and send to them.
The Marriage License which was issued on August 31, 1929 told me the following:
That my grandfather was the son of Albert L. Dalton and Rosa L. Dove and that he was born in Pittsylvania County. He was 23 and that he did public work.  That he married Velma O. Brumfield.  The minister was Cecil L. Boggs and they were married in Campbell County.  The Birth Certificate and death certificate verified this information.

So now I have verified information that I am the granddaugher of Ira L. Dalton and Velma B. Dalton.

If you wanted to take it a little further, then log on to Ancestry.com.  They have Census Records.  I logged on   and looked up the 1930 census.  There I found my grandmother and grandfather living in the Pigg River Magisterial District in Pittsylvania County, Virginia.  The census was taken before my mother's birth so there is just the two of them.  They list his occupation as farmer and there is a little link on the top that you click and it will show an approximate location of Pigg River District.  So another proof of the marriage, where they lived and what they did.

Generation #4.
So now I am at my Great Grandfather.  This will be more difficult.  Stay tuned tomorrow for more exciting facts.