Presidential Birth Certificates - A genealogical look

Barak Obama's Birth Certificate

A facebook friend posted yesterday a comment that there were multiple US presidents of the past who had one or more foreign born parents who were “never required to submit a birth certificate,” responding to the recent silly ongoing controversy as to the birthplace of Barak Obama.  I was a bit intrigued as an amateur genealogist as birth certificates are a phenomenon of the comparatively recent past, and I wondered if any of the listed presidents could have produced official documentation had it been required.  Most states did not have mandatory birth registration until the 20th century with a only few requiring such registration in the 19th century. Prior to that, birth records are rather “hit and miss” and often do not exist, although there are “local” exceptions such as parish baptismal records and similar. 

For the presidents mentioned in the post:

Thomas Jefferson: born 1743 in Shadwell, Virginia.  I could not find any original birth documents.  Birth registration at the state level did not begin until 14 June 1912.  Some local birth records are as early as 1853, 90 years after his birth. 

Andrew Jackson: born 1767 in “South” Carolina.  Apparently, he was born in such a remote location, that the actual NC/SC border in this area had not been established, although the area was later part of South Carolina.  State birth registration in SC did not begin until 1915.  An historian/genealogist did apply for a “delayed birth certificate” for him in 1962 citing several of his letters, his will, an early map and “two noted authorities” in evidence.   It appears that the certificate was granted based on this evidence. Birth registration in SC did not begin until 1915. Jackson, therefore, seems to be the only one of these presidents that has a birth certificate, but it was issued posthumously, 195 years after his birth. 

James Buchanan: born 1856 in Cove Gap, PA.  I could find no original records of his birth.  Pennsylvania began state birth registration in 1906, 50 years after his birth. 

Chester A. Arthur: born 1829 in Fairfield Vermont.  Birth records in VT began quite early in 1857 but still 28 years after his birth.  I did find some inconsistencies in census records.  In the 1850 census, his birthplace is recorded as Vermont.  In the 1870 census, it was reported to be New York. 

Woodrow Wilson: born 1856 in Staunton VA.  The earliest county records in VA are from 1853, and I could locate no records for his birth of an original nature.  Again, state registration of births did not begin until 1912, 56 years after his birth. 

Herbert Hoover: born 1874 in West Branch, Cedar County, IA.  IA is one of the few states to have pre-1900 birth registration.  Their records, however, begin in 1880, still seven years too late.  I did find three passport applications, all made from London, in which, in 1911, 1913 and 1916, he swore to his date and place of birth under oath. 

In brief, then, none of these prior presidents who had one or more parents of foreign birth could have produced a birth certificate or original official birth records, as they simply did not exist at the time. Whether there was any question as to the validity of their places of birth in the US is a question that I cannot clearly answer.  Given the certificate and the independent attestations to his birth from the local newspaper, I would classify the Obama records as high level confidence for genealogy.  Can we drop this now?