California Vital Records: Difference between revisions

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The church records in [[Portal:California|California]] provide the earliest evidences of births and deaths. County recorders eventually kept vital statistics. Monterey County, for example, recorded a few births as early as 1824. Most clerks kept better records in the decades following the Gold Rush. The Family History Library has been acquiring microfilmed copies of the original records from many counties. For example, the Family History Library has 81 microfilms of births from Los Angeles (1905-19, indexed 1905-23), and deaths (1877-1905, indexed 1873-1920). You can also write to each county clerk for information.  

California San Francisco Area Funeral Home Records 1835-1931 are available online at [http://pilot.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.html#c=1385518;p=collectionDetails;t=searchable Record Search]  

*[http://www.sfgenealogy.com/php/vitals/cabiindex.php California Birth Index]  

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The <span style="font-weight: bold">California D</span>'''eath Index'''&nbsp; (CADI) (1940-1997) is available for free at:  

<br>For additional information (including the mailing address) on ordering birth, marriage and death certificates from the state of California visit: [http://www.vitalrec.com/ A comprehensive resource for locating vital records]  

The first law that required the recording of marriages was passed in 1850. Each county usually kept these records as soon as it was organized. The Family History Library has copies of the marriages for many counties. For example, Los Angeles County marriage applications (1850-1905) and certificates (1851-1919) are available on 120 microfilms.  

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Divorce records have been kept by the superior court in the county where the divorces were granted. You can write to the clerk of the court for information. You can also write to the State Department of Health for records since 1962.  

You can learn more about the history and availability of vital records in ''Guide to Public Vital Statistics Records in California'', Volume II, Deaths (San Francisco, California: Historical Records Survey, 1941; Family History Library book [http://www.familysearch.org/eng/library/fhlcatalog/supermainframeset.asp?display=titlehitlist&columns=*%2C0%2C0&callno=979.4+V2h 979.4 V2h]; film [http://www.familysearch.org/eng/library/fhlcatalog/supermainframeset.asp?display=titlefilmnotes&columns=*%2C0%2C0&titleno=131130&disp=Guide+to+public+vital+statistics+records++ 897426] item 5).  

[[Category:California]]