Source Information

Ancestry.com. Bartholomew County, Indiana, U.S., Birth Records Index, 1882-1920 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. This collection was indexed by Ancestry World Archives Project contributors.
Original data: Indiana Work Projects Administration, comp. Index to birth records, Bartholomew County, Indiana, 1883-1920. Vol. I-II. Indianapolis, IN, USA: The Administration, 1941.

About Bartholomew County, Indiana, U.S., Birth Records Index, 1882-1920

This database is comprised of volumes I and II of the index to birth records for Bartholomew County, Indiana and includes surnames A-Z. In addition to providing the child’s name and a reference to the actual birth record, the index also provides the father’s full name, the mother’s maiden name, the sex and color of the child, and the date of the child’s birth. The Indiana Work Projects Administration created the index.

Birth and death records were recorded by the county health office beginning in 1882 where they remained before mandatory recording with the state board of health began in October 1907 for births, and January 1900 for deaths. Certified copies may be obtained from either the county health department or from the Division of Vital Records (1330 West Michigan Street, Indianapolis, Indiana 46207).

The WPA began to index vital records, county-by-county, for the entire state, but the agency was abolished before the project was completed. Only 68 of the 92 counties had their birth and death records (1882-1920) and marriages (generally 1850-1920) collected. The completed county indexes are available in print at the Indiana State Library and Allen County Public Library, among others.

Taken from Indiana, Ancestry's Red Book by Carol L. Maki, edited by Alice Eichholz. (Salt Lake City, UT: Ancestry Incorporated, 1992).