Birth Record: Gert Rector

Florence Gertrude “Gert” Rector has no birth certificate and no baptism record.

Let me back up. To date, I have not discovered any document that was produced at the time of Gert’s birth that provides her birthdate and birth location.

Birthdate Theory:

Florence Gertrude Rector was born on July 10, 1909

Gert wrote birth information for herself and her siblings on a loose piece of paper and placed it in her Bible.¹Photocopy of Bible records held by Karrie Blees. Bible owned by Richard Johnson. On this slip of paper, Gert writes that she was born Sat. July 10, 1909 at Buffalo, Okla, Harper County. This Bible was a 1950 birthday gift from her daughter, Loretta, so we can assume that the information was written from Gert’s personal remembrances when she was over 40 years old, not as a real-time record of events.

The earliest birth record on file with the Oklahoma State Vital Records Index is 1908. For the month of July 1909, there were 7 female births registered in Harper County; none of them matches with Gert’s birthday. Neither was Gert’s birth registered in a neighboring county. Also not in the state index: Mildred Rector’s birth in 1911. The birth of Gert’s sister Petris (known as Dorithy) is on file with the Oklahoma State Vital Records office, recorded in Harper County in 1914. So, I conclude that Gert’s parents did not register the births of their first two children in Oklahoma.

The 1910 Census of Kiowa Township, Harper County, Oklahoma lists Gillison Rector (22, born in MO), his wife Pettris (19, born in KY) and their daughter Gertrude (aged 11/12 months [sic] and born in Oklahoma)²1910 U.S. Census, Harper County, Oklahoma population schedule, Kiowa Township, sheet 10A, SD 2, ED 163, May 6, 1910 for Gillison Rector and family.. The census does not confirm an exact birthdate or birth location for Gert.

When I visited the Harper County, Oklahoma Court House in 2016, I found a collection of county school census books. Milton Elmer “M.E.” Rector, one of Gert’s paternal uncles, was the Enumerator for District No. 31, Kiowa Township. In February of 1915, Gertrude Rector, age 6, born July 10, 1909 was registered as a student in the district. The first named parent is G. G. Rector and the census is signed by her mother Pettris [Garnett] Rector.

When Gert got a job at the DeSoto Creamery in 1938, she applied for a social security number. On the application, she lists her full name. She goes on to list her birth date and location as July 10, 1909, Rosston, Harper County, Oklahoma.

The final official record listing her birth is her Minnesota Death Certificate.³Minnesota Department of Health, Death Certificate 1973-MN-025308, Florence Gertrude Gentzkow, 2 Oct 1973. Her husband, Frank, provided her complete birth name as Florence Gertrude Rector and her birth information as: July 10, 1909, Oklahoma.

Birthdate Conclusion:

From these records, we are certain that

Florence Gertrude Rector was born July 10, 1909

Birth Location Theory:

Florence Gertrude Rector was born in Harper County, Oklahoma

This 1910 map shows a portion of Harper County, Oklahoma [T27N, R 25W]. M. A. Rector (Gert’s paternal grandfather) owns property in Section 15. James E. Garnett (her maternal grandfather) owns property called “Old Kentucky Home Farm” in Section 11. These two families live very close to one another. The Readout P.O., Hall [Modern Woodmen’s], Shop and School are in Section 14. Readout had a post office from 1902-1913. So, if Gert was born at home, at, or near her grandparents’ homes, her birth location/address would have been Readout, Oklahoma. But we have no documentation to prove Readout as a location.

When Gert filled out her Application for a Social Security Number, she listed Rosston, Oklahoma as her birthplace. In 1938, there was no Readout; Rosston was the closest, named-town.

In her Bible, Gert states that she was born in Buffalo, Harper County, Oklahoma. Buffalo is the county seat and largest city in the county. Why would Gert’s parents travel past the town of Doby Springs to go to Buffalo for the birth of their first child? In her Bible, Gert lists her sister, Mildred’s birth as occurring in Readout. She lists her sister Dorithy’s birth as occurring in Rosston (again perhaps because the post office at Readout had been closed).

Birth Location Conclusion:

When looking at all of these records, there are conflicts, but all of the birth locations are in Harper County, Oklahoma. The earliest of the written records is Gert’s Social Security Application of 1938. Therefore, until we have new evidence, we shall state that :

Florence Gertrude Rector was born in Rosston, Harper County, Oklahoma

Where else could we look for Gert’s birth record?

SOURCES

• 1
  Photocopy of Bible records held by Karrie Blees. Bible owned by Richard Johnson.
• 2
  1910 U.S. Census, Harper County, Oklahoma population schedule, Kiowa Township, sheet 10A, SD 2, ED 163, May 6, 1910 for Gillison Rector and family.
• 3
  Minnesota Department of Health, Death Certificate 1973-MN-025308, Florence Gertrude Gentzkow, 2 Oct 1973.