Wallace Bernard Dixon - Birth Record

Wallace B. Dixon
Born in 1905 in
Elizabeth, NJ

This is where it starts

My search for the ancestors I don't know begins with the ones that I do know. First we'll start with my Grandpa Dixon.

My maternal grandfather, Wallace Bernard Dixon, was born on 2 March 1905 in Elizabeth, New Jersey.

His parents were William A. Dixon and Mary Elizabeth Klein. If you take a closer look at this birth record, you'll notice that Mary Elizabeth was 38 years old when Wallace was born. She had already given birth to five children that I know of. She would have one more child after Wallace was born, a daughter named Hazel, born in 1909.

Birth Record for Wallace B. Dixon

Just the facts

Information from this document:

• Wallace Bernard Dixon was born on 2 March 1905 in Elizabeth, NJ.
• His parents are William A. Dixon and Mary E. Klein.
• William A. Dixon was working as a carpenter. 
• William A. Dixon was born in the USA in about 1863 [inferred based on his age in 1905].
• Mary E. Klein was born in the USA in about 1867 [inferred based on her age in 1905].
• Attending the birth was L. F.[?] Terrill.
• This document was issued on 31 March 1942 as a transcript from the City of Elizabeth, NJ Records of Birth in the office of the City Clerk, Patrick F. Keelan.

Questions for further research

• William A. Dixon was working as a carpenter. The family were traditionally oystermen. Was he ever an oysterman, and if so, when and why did he switch to carpentry?

• The document lists my grandfather's name as "Wallace Bernard." Family lore has it that he was born "Bernard Wallace" and later changed it to Wallace Bernard. Look for the original birth record from 1905 and see how his name was recorded.
  
  [Update 8Jan2016 : see post "Wallace B. Dixon : Name Changer" for additional information.]
   
• What was happening in 1942 that caused my grandfather to get this delayed birth record?

My grandfather's generation spanned 25 years. He had at least six siblings about whom I know virtually nothing. These are people I want to learn about. Their descendants are cousins I'd like to meet. Theirs are the stories I'm looking for.

Citation
Birth Certificate [delayed] for Wallace Bernard Dixon, 31 March 1942, Certificate No. 2636, City Clerk, City of Elizabeth, Union County, New Jersey. Transcript from official Records of Birth. Certified copy in possession of author.