What are vital records?
Vital records are government documents that record births, marriages and deaths.
Vital records include indexes, registers and sometimes certificates. Often genealogists want a birth, death or marriage certificate when a register of a birth, death or marriage is sufficient for documenting an event.
Vital records are created by a government entity.
Vital records provide valuable genealogical information – the framework of our ancestor’s lives and the building blocks of all family trees.
Vital record information is usually recorded at or very near the time of the event, but there are delayed records that may be kept separately from logbooks from when your ancestor was born or died.
Usually when genealogists speak about vital records they are talking about non-church documentary evidence of birth, marriage and death.
In the United States, vital records are typically kept at three levels of government.
States (in general state registration of births and deaths began late 19th -early 20th century)
County
Municipality
New England has a unique history of vital record keeping
In New England vital records have mostly kept at the town level since the incorporation of the town
New England is unique in that Town Clerks kept registry books going back to 1600s
1897 statewide registration of marriages and deaths began
Massachusetts earliest state to record deaths 1841
Vermont last state in the country to record deaths in 1955
Tips to remember when searching for vital records and where they might be kept
Large American cities like NYC – began recording vital records previous to statewide registration.
Marriage records tend to be more common than birth or death records in 19c.
Every state has different laws about restricting vital records access. For instance, Massachusetts has a 92 year block for general public access.
You may never find primary source evidence of your ancestor’s birth, marriage or death– but that’s hardly a brick wall for genealogists! Look for a secondary source.
A few substitutes/ secondary sources for finding vital record-type information
Census records – can broadly identify when a person was born, how many children they had, who they were married to.
Church records – sacramental records like baptisms, last rites and marriages can fill in the essential information in your family tree.
Cemetery Records – burial records and gravestone information can help you document dates for births, deaths and names of spouses and other family members.
Newspapers – birth and marriage announcements as well as obituaries and funeral notices provide essential dates for family trees.
Probate Records – dates of death and names of family members are frequently included in estate documents.
Military Records – dates of birth and death as well as family contact information can be found in a variety of military records.
Family Bibles -Older family Bibles often contain a handwritten family history inside.
Recommended research guides
FamilySearch US Vital Records Overview Wikipage
CDC National Center for Health Statistics – Where to Write for Vital Records
Where to start looking for vital record information at Memorial Hall Library
FamilySearch — familysearch.org
FamilySearch.org offers access to genealogical records from over 110 countries, including over 2.4 million rolls of microfilmed genealogical records; 742,000 microfiche; 310,000 books, serials, and other formats. FamilySearch.org also contains the catalog of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.
American Ancestors — The databases of the New England Historic Genealogical Society with over 110 million names
Ancestry.com Library Edition Search for your ancestors, check U.S. Census Records, Birth/Marriage/Death records, and more. Ancestry Library is the largest family history site online with over 4 billion names in worldwide historical records, family tree services and genealogy learning materials