An Interesting question about a birth certificate

[fourthgen]

Happy New Year everyone!

I promised my mother that this year I would begin tracing back our ancestry to our family members that traveled over in the late 1800's from Italy to US with the goal of getting her citizenship and me as well.

I have all the dates involved already (marriages, births, deaths, birthplaces, places of death, date of immigration, departure and arrival ports). I've also found both sides of the family naturalization petitions and everything seems to be in order and meet the criteria for jure sanguinis,

Here's my hiccup: My great grandfather immigrated in 1897. My grandfather was born in 1906 in a state that did not have birth certificates by law until 1918. Any local records that may have been kept (not likely) were destroyed by a flood of the local courthouse in 1927. Complete loss of all records.

There will never be a birth certificate for him as far as I can tell.

I know that church records from Italy can be used if no birth certificate can be found.

Here's my question: Can church records from the US be used if no birth certificate can be found?

Thanks for your time, I've enjoyed reading through the threads and in fact saw one about the Italian churches that prompted this thread!

[adelfio]

Welcome to IG website
Can you give us a name and city and state?

Marty

[fourthgen]

Hi thanks for replying,

I can give you his information:

Sam/Sammie/Salvatore Giglio
Ferriday, Louisiana, May 1906

Married 1929, Shreveport, LA
Died April 1974, Shreveport, LA

Thanks!

I know this is primarily a board focuses on Italian records, so I appreciate any expertise you might have.

[Biff83]

Church baptismal records are accepted for citizenship if no birth certificate can be found, at least currently at the Philadelphia consulate.

Biff

[fourthgen]

Thanks Biff. Do you have any idea what kind of provenance is required?

Just a copy?
Paperwork from the church/diocese?

Thanks for the help. I'm going to Houston but I'll take any info at all.