Find Vital Records to Trace Your Family History
How to Find and Use Public Records in Genealogy
Jun 30, 2009
What is a Vital Record?
Vital records are government-kept records of major life events, such as birth, marriage, death, and divorce. All of these records contain the name of the person(s) involved and the date of the event, as well as other pertinent information, such as the location of birth for birth certificates or cause of death for death certificates. However, these types of records are usually kept at the state level in the United States, so that the details of each record will often vary by state, as will the details of obtaining these records.
Vital Records Provide Genealogical Data
Because all vital records contain the date of the event along with the name(s) of those involved, they are crucial to tracing the life history of your ancestors. Simply by finding these records, you can create a timeline of the most important events in your ancestors’ lives: Birth, marriage, (divorce) and death. They will also contain family tree basics such as the full name of the person, birth date, and location, which are essential to filling out your family history.
Of course, most often you will already know or at least have a solid guess about the dates and locations of these events, and these records will provide you with the proof and final verification of your genealogy detective work. At times, however, locating one vital record can further along your family history research by furnishing vital clues for locating other ancestors or for solving genealogical puzzles.
For example, divorce records often contain the names of the couple’s children. Thus, not only will a divorce record bestow critical knowledge for research on that ancestor—namely, that their name might have changed—it also presents the names (and perhaps other information) of other ancestors you might have missed or have yet to locate. Conversely, marriage records may have the names and birthplaces of the couples’ parents. As such, they can also help find older generation ancestors, which might be more difficult than finding later generation ancestors (whom you might have already found).
Finally, death certificates not only record information such as the date, time, and cause of death, but they often also record where the person will be buried. Visiting cemeteries is another tried-and-true genealogy technique: often, they lead to discoveries of forgotten ancestors or clarify family relationships.
Locate Vital Records
How, then, does one go about locating vital records? For the most part, you will have to contact the vital records department of the state in which the event took place. If you know the county, it may be better to contact the county records office, as they have less traffic to handle and thus will be likely to send your record more quickly than at the state office.
Because the details of obtaining records—whether it be the contact information for the vital records office, the preferred method of requesting records, or cost—vary by state, locating your ancestors’ records may seem tedious, especially if your ancestors span a multitude of states. An easy solution is to turn to the internet. There are many handy websites that help you find vital records, whether by providing the contact information of the offices or by providing tips and links for state- or county-specific vital records websites.
With vital records searching under your belt, you’re well on your way to becoming an old pro in family history research. Clues from vital records, combined with the eyes of a perceptive researcher, can be the critical piece that completes your family history research.
