City of Charleston Return of a Birth — Amy Perry FitzSimons, Feb. 4, 1888 (certified copy issued 1950)
Book 1, Page 384 ·1888–1950
Transcription
A printed birth-return form with the City of Charleston seal at the upper left, hand-filled by typewriter. A circular embossed countersigning seal overlays the right-hand columns.
[Charleston city seal: AEDES MORES JURAQUE CURAT / CIVITATIS REGIMINE DONATA / CAROLOPOLIS / CONDITA AD 1670]
CITY OF CHARLESTON, S.C.
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
RETURN OF A BIRTH
Date filed February 14, 1888 No. 27-27
LEON BANOV, M.D. HEALTH OFFICER
- Full name of child Amy Perry FitzSimons
- Sex Girl : Number child of mother — Race White
- Date of birth Feb. 4, 1888 : Place of birth 4 Green Hill St.
- Full name of mother Minnie W. FitzSimons : Maiden Name Perry Residence 4 Green Hill St.
- Mother’s birthplace Barnwell
- Full name of father Samuel FitzSimons
- Father’s birthplace St. John Occupation Rice Pl[anter]
- Name and address of attendant Jno. L. Ancrum *name added by affid. 1-28-50
Two signatures are written in blue ink across the lower right of the form, partly overlapping the embossed countersigning seal:
Leon Banov M.D. [printed-name stamp signed over]
By [illegible] [a second signature, possibly that of a deputy or clerk]
[Embossed circular seal at right edge:] TRUE COPY FROM THE ORIGINAL / COUNTERSIGNED / HEALTH OFFICER, CHARLESTON CO. DEPT.
AI Notes
A printed City of Charleston Department of Health ‘Return of a Birth’ form, recording the birth of Amy Perry FitzSimons — the album’s compiler — on 4 February 1888 at 4 Green Hill Street, Charleston. The form’s hand-typed entries record her mother’s maiden name (Minnie W. FitzSimons, née Perry), her father (Samuel FitzSimons, occupation ‘Rice Planter’), and the attending physician (Jno. L. Ancrum). The original date filed is February 14, 1888 (No. 27-27). The document is a certified copy issued 28 January 1950: a circular embossed seal at right reads ‘TRUE COPY FROM THE ORIGINAL / COUNTERSIGNED / HEALTH OFFICER / CHARLESTON CO. DEPT.’, and the form bears the printed name and signed countersignature of Leon Banov, M.D., Health Officer (Banov was Charleston’s long-serving Health Officer from the 1920s through the 1960s). The footnote ‘*name added by affid. 1-28-50’ indicates the child’s given name ‘Amy Perry FitzSimons’ was supplied by affidavit on 28 January 1950, the same date the certified copy was issued. The Charleston city seal appears at upper left bearing the legend AEDES MORES JURAQUE CURAT / CIVITATIS REGIMINE DONATA / CAROLOPOLIS / CONDITA AD / 1670.
This is a 1950 certified copy of the 1888 birth record, not the original return. The Charleston city seal printed at upper left is the historic municipal seal of Charles Town (founded 1670). Leon Banov (1888–1971), Charleston’s Health Officer for over forty years, signed in his official capacity. The footnote “name added by affid. 1-28-50” records that Amy’s first name was supplied by affidavit on 28 January 1950 — evidently the original 1888 return had been filed before her parents settled on the name. The father’s stated birthplace “St. John” is St. John’s Berkeley, the FitzSimons parish in the South Carolina Lowcountry. The mother’s birthplace “Barnwell” refers to Barnwell District, S.C., the Perry family home.