Indiana Vital Records

City and County Records of Births and Deaths

A few Indiana cities began keeping vital records in the 1870s. In 1882, the State Board of Health requested each county to register births and deaths.

The Work Projects Administration (WPA)Look this term up in the glossary. extracted and compiled the birth, marriage, and death records, usually to 1920. These are arranged first by county, and then alphabetically by surname. The original typescripts are at the Indiana State Library. The Family History Library has microfilms of these records. The birth index provides the name of the child, its father’s name, mother’s maiden name, sex, color, date of birth, book, and page. The death index gives the name of the deceased, sex, color, age at death, date of death, place of death, book, and page.

State Records of Births and Deaths

The statewide registration of vital statistics began in October 1899 for deaths and in 1907 for births, and was generally complied with by 1917. The Family History Library has not obtained copies of the certificates; but the Library does have indexes to county birth and death records (see paragraph above). Records of births that occurred within the last 75 years are only available to the individual or a member of his immediate family. Death records to the present date are available to all researchers.

For copies of birth or death records, write to the local health department or:

   Vital Records Office
   Department of Health
   P.O. Box 7125
   Indianapolis, IN 46206-7125
   Telephone: 317-233-2700
   Fax: 317-233-7210 

You may order records by telephone if you have a major credit card.

Fees for obtaining copies of the state’s records are listed on several Internet genealogical web sites and in:

Where to Write for Vital Records: Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Divorces. Hyattsville, Md.: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, March 1993. Copies of this booklet are available at the Family History Library and at Family History Centers. The booklet can also be ordered from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402-9328. The booklet is also included on the Family History Library’s SourceGuide compact disc, and on the FamilySearch™ Internet Genealogy Service at www.familysearch.org. You can also write to the Indiana Vital Records Office (address above) for current information.

Delayed registrations of births are found in the Clerk of the Circuit Court’s office. Registrations began in July 1941, and although the law is still in effect, most registrations occurred in the 1940s. They may contain information on births that occurred as early as the 1870s. Certificates for births that were originally not recorded were granted after a petition was filed with the court. These registrations may also contain births of people born outside of the county and even those outside of the U.S. Contact the clerk for copies. The Family History Library has microfilms of delayed birth registrations for more then 60 counties. For example:

Indiana. Circuit Court (Marshall County). Delayed Birth Records, 1941–1971. Salt Lake City: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1989. (FHL film 1651781 items2–4.)

Transcripts of many Indiana vital records, including over 175,000 indexed names, are published in Indiana Source Book: Genealogical Material from the Hoosier Genealogist, cited in the “For Further Reading” section near the end of this outline.

Marriages

There was no state-level registration of marriages until 1958. The State Board of Health published these records annually from 1958 to 1965 and the Family History Library has them for 1960 and 1964 (see below). The Genealogy Division of the Indiana State Library has microfilm indexes of the records from 1958 to the present.

Since 1807, these records have been kept by the Clerk of the Circuit Court. While some records have been destroyed, the records generally date from the organization of the county. For copies, write to the clerk in the county where the license was issued.

The Work Projects Administration extracted and compiled the marriage records, usually to 1920. They are arranged by county, then alphabetically by the name of the bride or groom. They contain the name of the bride or groom, name of spouse, date of birth (after 15 April 1905), color, date of marriage, book, and page. From 1 January 1882 to about 1920, there is often a separate supplemental record (marriage application) that provides the name of the person, father’s given name, mother’s maiden name, sex, color, age at next birthday, date of marriage, book, and page. The Family History Library has microfilms of many marriage records. For example:

United States. Work Projects Administration (Indiana). Index to Marriage Record, Marion County, 1822–1920. Indianapolis: Indiana State Library, 1983. (FHL films 1323322 item 2 to 1323324.)

Published indexes of Indiana marriages for 1960 and 1954 are available at the Family History Library.

Indiana Marriage Index. Indianapolis: Indiana State Board of Health, 1960, 1964. (FHL book 977.2 V22in 1960 2 vols.; fiche 6105310–311; and FHL book 977.2 V22in 1964.) These indexes are only for the years 1960 and 1964.

The Family History Library has microfilm copies of marriage records from most counties.

From 1820 to 1940 members of the Society of Friends (Quakers) were not required to obtain a marriage license. See the Society of Friends church records for these marriages.

A book with early marriage records to 1825 is:

Indiana Marriages, Early to 1825: A Research Tool. Bountiful, Utah: Precision Indexing, 1991. (FHL book 977.2 V22i.) This lists the name of the groom, the bride, marriage date, and county and includes over 26,000 names.

Many marriage records from the early 1800s through the 1850s have been published in:

Indiana Source Book: Genealogical Material from the Hoosier Genealogist, cited in the “For Further Reading” section near the end of this outline. This includes over 175,000 indexed names.

Marriage Index on Internet

The Indiana State Library’s web site includes an index of 330,000 records of Indiana marriages through 1850. The address is:

   www.statelib.lib.in.us/www/indiana/genealogy/mirr.html 

The marriage index was compiled from many sources, including Quaker marriages found in Willard Heiss, Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy: Abstracts of the Records of the Society of Friends in Indiana (see Indiana Church Records). Since it is an index of records at the Indiana State Library, where not all marriage records are available, the list is not inclusive.

Marriage Indexes on Compact Disc

Marriage Records. [Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee]. Orem, Utah: Automated Archives, 1994. (FHL compact disc #9 number 2) This is not circulated to Family History Centers It was formerly called Hunting for Bears The Indiana marriage records range from 1800 to 1901 however there are not many after 1860 This record includes marriages from 51 counties and is arranged by county and Soundex code It shows names county and marriage dates

Marriage Records, Early–1850. (Illinois, Indiana) Orem, Utah: Automated Archives, 1992. (FHL compact disc #9 part 228) This is not circulated to Family History Centers It was compiled by Liahona Research The records are from about 1800 to 1850 This record includes marriages from 83 counties and is arranged by county and Soundex code It shows names county and marriage dates This disc may include records with different time periods than the disc above

Coroner’s Records

The Coroner’s Office was established in 1788 during the Northwest Territory period and continued under Indiana’s 1816 and 1851 Constitutions. The coroner investigated deaths whose causes were unknown or resulted from violence, and determined the cause of death. Coroner inquests were published in the local newspaper. Before 1879, few coroner’s records survived. Beginning in 1879, the coroner was required to file a report with the Clerk of the Circuit Court. Many of these records survive.

Divorces

See Indiana Divorce Records.

Vital Records in the Family History Library Catalog

Birth, marriage, coroner, and death records are listed in the Locality Search of the Family History Library Catalog under:

   INDIANA- VITAL RECORDS INDIANA, [COUNTY]- VITAL RECORDS

Guide to Vital Records

You can learn more about the history, contents, and availability of Indiana state and county birth, marriage, and death records in:

Guide to Public Vital Statistics Records in Indiana. Indianapolis: Historical Records Survey, 1941. (FHL book 977.2 A5h; film 874046 item5; fiche 6051202.) This is designed to direct vital records searchers to the correct record series. It is divided into sections for births, marriages, deaths, and divorces and it is subdivided into state, county, and municipal sections. Counties are listed alphabetically, municipalities alphabetically thereunder. It describes the dates covered, number of volumes, arrangement, and 1941 fees for copies of each record.

Family History Library (FHL); now called, FamilySearch Library (FSL)