If I can't find myself, I'm not entirely surprised I can't find my grandmother.

I really dislike the way you can put down 2 exact match requirements and get absolutely nothing. Definitely not worth $20 a month. I've only been on this site for 1 day, and I can't find myself or anyone that's alive in my family. There a reason for that?

We are looking for my Grandmother and if she wasn't born in StLouiss, lived in Missouri, and had the last name of "Smith" - how can anything on this site be accurate? Those 2 or 3 "exacts" bring up NOTHING.

Sorry, very frustrated.

I also don't think our information is wrong. I can't find myself and I have a Birth Certificate right here. Unless ancestry.com says my family, the state, and I am lying about my own existence?

The 3 reasons they give about not being able to find any information because of "exact" searches almost seems like a cop-out to me. I can't see our "information being wrong". Our entire family is FROM StLouiss, Missouri. And if they think that is WRONG, well, how can you argue w/people you've never met?

If someone else can find anything about my Grandma, her name was Madelyn Mae Smith. (Mae and Smith are definite spellings.) Her exact birthday is January 20, 1924. She lived in StLouiss, Missouri. Born at St.Mary's Hospital in Clayton, Missouri. We have the names of her children, her siblings, and grandchildren, along with dates of some of her children's deaths.

I'm getting nothing. :( Can anyone actually find anything? And if not, could you please explain to me why none of my family are listed at all in Missouri records from 1924-2009?

For some reason, in my first message, it keeps taking out the period after St. and adds another "s" after Louis. Not my doing. lol

There is a simple reason why you cannot find yourself. Privacy!!! What you are looking for are State Records. There are very few states that release state records, even old ones. Texas releases the data but not the actual record itself. Would you want anyone in the world to get hold of your birth certificate so they can steal your identity. That is exactly what would happen if those records were on Ancestry for anyone to grab. In addition, many if not most states use those actual records to generate revenue and they do not sell them to a genealogy web site. Basically, Ancestry is for genealogy, not finding yourself. If you expect to find yourself, unless you happen to be born in a state such as Texas or North Carolina, that will not happen. Since I was born in Texas, I can find my birth details-not the birth certificate. image.

The only census in which your grandmother would be listed is the 1930 census. The 1940 census will not be released until 2012. This is a federal law-has to be 72 years before census is released. Do not use New search-go to old search, type in the last name, use the census decade-1930-approximate birthdate within 2 years along with the county and city. You would be much more likely to find your great grandparents. But you would not be able to find your grandmother's children. Those records are not available yet for public release for most states. The State of Missouri itself has a web site wherein you can find some death records but nothing current. As you gain more experience in using Ancestry as a research vehicle, you will learn what works and what does not. It's also possible that your grandmother's family was not recorded in the 1930 census for some reason.

Even though you have the correct spelling of her name, you cannot assume that it will be correct on the census. Use the wildcard search, Mad* Smith, of Missouri and see if she comes up with a different spelling. Search for Madelyn, not Madelyn Mae, she might not have used the middle name all the time. For the marriage record, search for your grandfather too, Missouri marriage records are available at ancestry.

Do you have her parents' names? Do a search for them, too. Look for the siblings, sometimes you can find a family using a sibling. The people doing the index are human, and can make errors, for example, a M looks like a W, so Madelyn becomes Wadelyn in the index.

There is a Madlyn Smith, in the family of Charles and Diga Smith in St. Louis, in the 1930 census. Is that her?

Ancestry has very few records for people born after 1930, the states have not released these records for privacy reasons. Nor does ancestry have all public records that are available.

http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/bdrecords.asp
Brief History of Vital Records in Missouri
In 1883, the Missouri General Assembly enacted legislation providing for the Board of Health to have supervision of the statewide registration of births and deaths. This supervision amounted to prescribing “such forms and recommend[ing] such legislation as shall be deemed necessary for a thorough and complete registration of vital and mortuary statistics through the state.” (Laws of the State of Missouri, 1883, page 96/section 7) The State Board of Health was charged with preparing printed forms of certificates of births and deaths; these were to be provided to the clerks of the various counties and it was the duty of the county clerks to furnish the printed forms to the persons required to file birth and death reports.

This law did not make the reporting of all births and deaths mandatory. Due to non-compliance, the General Assembly repealed the statutes relating to the registration of births and deaths in Missouri in 1893.

It was not until 1910 that the General Assembly again provided for the registration of births and deaths on a statewide basis. Approved May 6, 1909, the act was to “provide for the immediate registration of all births and deaths throughout the state of Missouri by means of certificates of births and deaths and burial or removal permits; requiring prompt returns to the central bureau of vital statistics at the capital of the state, as required to be established by the state board of health, and to insure the thorough organization and efficiency of the registration of vital statistics throughout the state, and providing certain penalties” (Laws of the State of Missouri, 1909, page 538). Pursuant to this 1909 law, all births and deaths that occur in Missouri are reported to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. The Bureau of Vital Records maintains these birth and death records.

Birth And Death Records, Pre-1910
Over 250 reels of microfilm containing birth and death records from 1883 to 1893 are available at the Archives for research. Researchers should note that the records vary from county to county during this period because there was no requirement for mandatory reporting from parents or professional attendants. For example, Bates County birth records are only available from 1883 to 1886. To learn more about researching birth and death records from this period, contact the Archives at archref@sos.mo.gov

Go to Birth and Death Records Database

Death Records, Post-1910
House Bill 1634 (2004) made changes to RSMo 193.225 and 193.245 (4), the Missouri statutes that govern the reproduction of vital records and the information contained in them. The legislation, effective August 28, 2004, states that death records over fifty years old will be transferred to the Missouri State Archives, and copies of death records over fifty years old may be disclosed upon request. For more information about access to this collection, please contact the Archives at archref@sos.mo.gov or see our Frequently Asked Questions about the Death Records Project.

Go to Death Certificate Database

Certified Copies of Vital Records, Post-1910
In order to obtain certified copies of birth and death records filed after 1909, researchers must contact the Missouri Department of Health and Human Services, Bureau of Vital Records.

The Bureau of Vital Records has certificates of Missouri births from 1910 to the present. The Bureau also maintains certificates of Missouri deaths that are less than fifty years old. The Archives maintains death certificates more than fifty years old, but cannot issue certified copies.

A certified copy of a birth or death certificate may be obtained by contacting:

Bureau of Vital Records
930 Wildwood
P.O. Box 570
Jefferson City MO 65102
Telephone: (573) 751-6400

A copy of her birth certificate will cost $15

I almost NEVER EVER use the 'Exact' box. Learned the hard way. Reason. Because almost all records have something wrong on them. Try typing in the information again, and not checking the 'exact' box.

I generally only use the "exact' box when I am searching under a mis-spelled name. i.e., for my Gentry family, it is often spelled Gentery, so I may check 'exact' for that spelling. I've been updating/annotating about 4,000 Gentry records, and this is one way I find the mis-spelled ones.