United States Vital Records

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U.S. Vital Records Topics Birth records Marriage records Divorce records Death records Use Vital Records To: Uniquely identify a person Provide names of family members add idea Other Types of Vital Records Church records Town records other Substitute Records Social Security Death Index Cemetery Newspapers and Obituary Bible Records 1900 Census Mortality Census Military Records Probate Records

United States > Vital Records Key U.S. Vital Records Internet Links vitalchek.com Vitalrec.com Birth Records Marriage Records -this is more complete Death Records National Center for Health Statistics Genlookups.com for Texas marriages Genlookups.com for Texas divorces Genlookups.com for marriages 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. For more details see the old United States Vital Records page that was originally obtained from the United States Research Outline. Vital Records of Each State   Alabama   Alaska   Arizona   Arkansas   California   Colorado   Connecticut   Delaware   District of Columbia   Florida   Georgia   Hawaii   Idaho   Illinois   Indiana   Iowa   Kansas   Kentucky   Louisiana   Maine   Maryland   Massachusetts   Michigan   Minnesota   Mississippi   Missouri   Montana   Nebraska   Nevada   New Hampshire   New Jersey   New Mexico   New York   North Carolina   North Dakota   Ohio   Oklahoma   Oregon   Pennsylvania   Rhode Island   South Carolina   South Dakota   Tennessee   Texas   Utah   Vermont   Virginia   Washington   West Virginia   Wisconsin   Wyoming Vital Records in U.S. Territories American Samoa Cuba District of Columbia Guam Marshall Islands Micronesia Northern Mariana Islands Palau Panama Canal Zone Philippines Puerto Rico Virgin Islands Things you can do In order to make the United States vital records content in the wiki a better research tool, we need your help! Many tasks need to be done. You can help by: Adding more details about how to access and use the Connecticut Barbour Collection The Western States Marriage Index could be added as a resource to all applicable state vital records pages Use the list of sources of information for state vital records pages as a check list of resources to help you with editing state pages. More ideas are coming ...