United States Vital Records

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 * United States &gt; Vital Records
 * United States &gt; Vital Records

Introduction
The practice of recording civil vital statistics developed slowly in the United States. Early vital information was sometimes recorded in brief entries in register books until the twentieth century, when it became more common to create certificates. Some town clerks in colonial America (especially New England) recorded vital information, but these records are incomplete. The federal government has not registered vital records, except for some Americans born outside the country who were recorded in embassy or consulate records.

Records of marriages were generally the first vital records kept in a locality. In most states, the counties or towns began recording marriages as soon as they were established. Whether the marriage ceremony was performed by a civil or a church authority, local laws required the marriage to be recorded in civil records.

The local health departments of a few large cities began recording births and deaths by the mid-1800s. For example, records exist for Baltimore (from 1875), Boston (from 1639), New Orleans (from 1790), New York (from 1847), and Philadelphia (from 1860). The early records are usually incomplete. Many counties in the East and Midwest were recording births and deaths by the late 1800's.

Each state eventually developed its own laws and created a statewide registration system. Unfortunately, these records do not exist until the early 1900's in most states. Local offices did not always comply immediately with the registration laws. Within 20 years after registration laws were enacted, most states were recording at least 90 percent of the births and deaths. To learn more about the creation of civil records and the regional differences go to the United States Civil Records page.

Records at the Family History Library
The Family History Library has copies of many vital records, primarily those before 1920. However, if a record was never kept, was not available in the courthouse at the time of microfilming, was not microfilmed, or is restricted from public access by the laws of the state, the Family History Library does not have a copy. You may use the records at the library for your family research, but the library does not issue or certify certificates for living or deceased individuals.

Vital records can be found in the Place Search of the Family History Library Catalog under each of the following approaches:


 * [STATE] - VITAL RECORDS
 * [STATE], [COUNTY] - VITAL RECORDS
 * [STATE], [COUNTY], [TOWN] - VITAL RECORDS

You can find further information about vital records in research pages available for each state.

The Family History Library has statewide collections and special indexes of vital records for most states. The library has good collections of county vital records for several states.

Key Reference Sources

 * Kemp Thomas Jay. International Vital Records Handbook. 5th ed. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc.,2009. ISBM 9780806317939: 0806317930 Worldcat. FHL book 973 V24k 1994. This includes samples of application forms that can be sent to state offices to request copies of vital records. It also provides telephone ordering numbers for most offices. Payment by bank card is generally accepted.


 * Leonard, Barry. Where to Write for Vital Records: Births, Deaths, Marriages, and DivorcesPublished by DIANE Publishing, 2007. ISBN 1422314820: 9781422314821. 47 pages. Full text available at Google Books. Worldcat.


 * Szucs, Loretto Dennis, Luebking, Sandra Hargreaves. The source: a guidebook of American genealogy. Edition: 3, illustrated. Published by Ancestry Publishing, 2005. ISBN 1593312776: 9781593312770. 965 pages. Worldcat


 * Stemmons, Jack and Diane Stemmons. The Vital Records Compendium:Comprising a Directory of Vital Records and Where They May be Located. Logan, Utah: Everton Publishers, 1979.


 * Where to Write for Vital Records: Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Divorces. Hyattsville, Maryland: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, March 1993. Some addresses and fees are outdated. This booklet can be purchased from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington, DC 20402-9328.

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