Vermont Vital Records

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Birth, Marriage, and Death Records
Birth records usually show the name and sex of the child, and the names of parents, with the mother’s maiden name. The birth records may also show the birth places and ages of the parents, mother’s maiden name, occupation of the father, and number of children born to the mother. A year by year search may reveal other children born to the couple. Birth records of adopted children may give the birth parents but have frequently been amended to show only the adoptive parents.

Marriage records usually mention the names of the bride and groom, the date and place of the marriage, and the home town of both the bride and groom. They also may show the names of the parents of each of them.

Death records usually give information about the deceased, such as name, age, birth date, state or country of birth. They also may include the names of parents, the date and place of death, as well as the cause of death. The informant may be a close relative and the names of the physician and mortician may be provided.

Vital records were first kept in Vermont from the earliest permanent settlement, about 1760. All original records are maintained by the town or city and can be viewed at the town or city clerk’s office. The present vital registration law was enacted in 1857. This statute required that all vital events be recorded in the town where they occurred. A centralized registration system was established in 1919.

The central registration of birth, marriage, death, and divorce records have been divided into the responsibilities of two state agencies. For vital records from 1760 to 10 years ago, contact:

Vermont Public Records Division General Services Center Public Records Division, Drawer 33 Montpelier, VT 05633-7601 Telephone: 802-828-3286 Internet: http://birthdatabase.net/vermont/birth-records.htm For Vital Records for the 10 most recent years, contact:

Department of Health and Vital Statistics 108 Cherry St., P.O. Box 70 Burlington, VT 05402 Telephone: 802-863-7275 Internet: http://healthvermont.gov/research/records/vital_records.aspx or


 * www.vitalrec.com/vt.html

Indexes
Vermont. Secretary of State. General Index to Vital Records of Vermont, Early to 1870. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1951. (On 287 Family History Library films beginning with 027455.) This index includes births, deaths, marriages, and most gravestones. They are arranged alphabetically within the year. Some cards are filmed out of sequence.

Vermont. Secretary of State. General Index to Vital Records of Vermont, 1871–1908. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1967, 1994–95. (On 122 Family History Library films beginning with 540051.) This index includes births, deaths, and marriages. They are arranged alphabetically by surname. Some cards are filmed out of sequence. Re-filmed cards are on the end of some rolls.

Vermont. Secretary of State. State Records of Births, Marriages, and Deaths, 1909–1942. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1994–97. (On 278 Family History Library films beginning with 1953261.) They are arranged alphabetically by surname.

Vermont. Secretary of State. State Records of Births, Marriages and Deaths, 1942–1954. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1994–96. (On 133 Family History Library films beginning with 1953789.) They are arranged alphabetically by surname.

Divorce Records
From 1861 to 1968 divorce records can be found at the Vital Records Office in Montpelier. Divorce proceedings since 1968 can be obtained from the Division of Vital Statistics in Burlington. The addresses for these two agencies can be found at the beginning of this section.

Since vital records were kept from the founding of a town, search the town records also for the original information. See the “Town Records” section of this outline for details. Vital records can be found in the Family History Library Catalog Place Search under:


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