AGENCY: Tooele County (Utah). County Clerk
SERIES: 3537
TITLE: Birth reports
DATES: 1898-1905.
ARRANGEMENT: Chronological by filing date, thereunder alphabetical by name of attending midwife or physician, thereunder chronological by birth date.
DESCRIPTION: These are report forms completed by midwives, doctors, and nurses attending births. In 1898, all "physicians and professional midwives" were required to "keep a register of each birth at which times they assist professionally" (Utah Rev._Stat._57:2029_(1898)). These forms are certified copies of their registers and were required to be to filed quarterly with the county clerk (Utah Rev._Stat._57:2032_(1898)). Each form reports ten births for the previous three months. They were used by the county clerk to register births occurring in Tooele County in the official "Register of Births." These forms include the name of the attending physician, midwife, or nurse, number of birth, sex, color, race, date of birth, place of birth, parents' names and residence, name of informant, date of report for previous three months, signature, address, and date filed with the clerk and date entered in book. In 1905, the responsibility of registering births was given to the Division of Vital Statistics in the Health Department.
RETENTION
DISPOSITION
RETENTION AND DISPOSITION AUTHORIZATION
These records are in Archives' permanent custody.
APPROVED: 06/1990
FORMAT MANAGEMENT
Paper: Retain in State Archives permanently.
Microfilm master: Retain in State Archives permanently with authority to weed.
M-Disc: Retain in State Archives permanently with authority to weed.
APPRAISAL
Historical
This series has permanent historical value as documentation of the legally mandated process for reporting births. The records also contains informational value useful to both family historians and scholars researching demographics, settlement, and growth of Tooele County. They provide additional detail on the availability of midwives and doctors and the numbers of babies they delivered.
PRIMARY DESIGNATION
Public