While I have focused on death records in the last three columns due to some personal tragedy, it’s time to look at other evidence of our ancestors’ lives. Death records are one of three types of vital records (VRs), a record set I have mentioned in passing previously. The other two kinds of VRs are birth and marriage documents.
Vital records are critical in verifying facts and details about our ancestors, and help us form a foundation to work from. Let’s go deeper.
While government entities are the main keepers of that record collection — also known as civil records — they are pre-dated by religious records. Primarily church records, they generally started in the 1600s — depending on location and denomination.
Synagogues generally don’t keep birth, marriage or death information, but they may keep other records (see my fourth column, What’s Jewish About Genealogy?).
In the US, VRs are not federal records (as are census, military, social security death records and many others). VRs are created and maintained by state laws.
As a result, there are 50 different sets of rules and access policies. Each state created laws governing when, where and how information is collected and released.
Most states didn’t start vital records until the late 1800s-early 1900s, although some New England states started much earlier.
States then delegated responsibility for creating vital records to local or county governments.
Also, note that vital records are not just (birth, marriage, death) certificates — they may be registers, indexes, bonds, licenses and other records.
It is generally true with most genealogical records that initial records were quite basic, with minimal information collected. As time progressed and needs became more complex, records became more detailed and bureaucratic — thankfully for genealogists.
So, for example, early birth records may have just listed a baby’s name and the year of birth — if even that. Most birth records today list at least the newborn’s full name, exact birth date and time, weight, along with both parent’s names.
Later vital records often list parent’s names (if known) and can get you back another generation — earlier ones are not as helpful.
How accessible are these records? Again, each state is different concerning privacy laws and ease of accessibility.
Many states allow you to obtain these records after a certain period of time has passed after each vital event.
Sometimes you have to prove how you are related to that person, even if they’ve been dead for 100 years.
In Colorado, generally records after 1900 or 1910 (depending on the type) can be obtained at the county level. But proof of relationship is required (with family trees — and documents for each generation, if the family doesn’t have deep Colorado roots), or you need to get a notarized statement from immediate family getting permission to obtain that record.
Before 1900, you need to contact the state — but still prove how you’re related. They don’t make it easy.
Contrast that with New York City, with a dense Jewish population, then and now. For vital records, most can be obtained — online — with no relationship to the person in the record. But the time period is critical. Birth certificates must be before 1908, marriage certificates before 1938 and death certificates before 1949.
If you want vital records after that, you need to prove your relationship.
Most of these earlier certificates are free and online at FamilySearch.org, although you usually need to go in person to a local Family History Center (FHC) to view or download the record — and most FHCs are still closed during the pandemic.
As you can see, access varies widely between states. Depending on how recent the records are, they may be available at the local or county level, or if older, likely at the state level.
So, where to start?
Try the county level where your ancestor lived for the event you’re searching for, and contact the appropriate department (often county clerk or health department) — and ask about genealogical records. They can steer you in the right direction.
During these pandemic times, expect delays in getting records, unless they’re online.
A small but growing number of states are putting older vital records online, with costs ranging from $10-$50 per record.
Due to number of factors (time period, record destruction, etc.), vital records are not always available or just don’t exist.
We need to do a reasonably exhaustive search for them, but if not findable, there are other records that can help us verify facts about our ancestors, which future columns will address.
Similar principles apply to research outside the US.
Vital records are not generally kept by the US government. Most countries (including former Russian Empire countries) do have national or regional archives that keep vital records, but accessibility varies widely.
Your initial preparation should include researching other countries policies in terms of access.
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