October 11, 2024
Vital records – birth, marriage and death information – are the roots of any family tree. Beginning genealogists often assume that finding these records will be as simple as ordering certificates from a state or county health department.
For some ancestors, ordering those kinds of records can be that simple. For many
other ancestors, it won’t be.
In most places in the United States, governmental vital records have only been kept since the beginning of the twentieth century. For example, birth and death certificates have only been required since 1908 in Colorado. Early compliance was spotty, and many parts of the state did not require these certificates until about 1920.
Many other states have similar time frames for birth and death certificates, although some eastern and midwestern states did require them as early as the last decades of the nineteenth century. Most of our ancestors will have lived before these records were kept.
In some states it’s possible to order records for almost anyone during the relevant years. However, some states, including Colorado, do not consider these records public. They are only available to those who are deemed eligible, which usually means only records for direct ancestors such as parents and grandparents. Records for other relatives are private.
Marriage records are kept at the county level in most states. They were also kept earlier than birth and death records because the government considered marriage a public covenant whereby land or other property was exchanged. Many marriage records are public, but some states consider them private. Colorado marriage records are not public and can only be accessed by eligible people such as direct descendants and named participants in the ceremony.
Vital records in countries outside the U.S. are sometimes easier to obtain. European countries often started keeping these records earlier than the U.S. England, for example, began requiring birth, death and marriage records in 1837. These records are indexed, and anyone can order a copy. Other countries in Europe such as Scandinavia had state churches which were tasked with keeping vital records. These records are easily accessed online and can go back as far as the 1600s.
Another reason that vital record certificates can be difficult to obtain is cost. Copies of birth and death certificates cost $20 each from the State of Colorado. Prices vary throughout the states, but $25 or more is standard. Expedited service will add a premium to that price. Overseas records are priced similarly.
Governmental vital records are an important source of genealogical information, but they won’t be available for every ancestor. In general, they will be most available for those ancestors who lived and died in the later nineteenth and earlier twentieth century. To find out what records might be available for a specific state or country, a visit to the Family Search Wiki at https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Main_Page is usually a good first step. The website is free and gives practical information about ordering these valuable records.
Other records can fill in for vital records certificates. Next week I’ll discuss some of these other sources of birth, marriage, and death information.
Carol Stetser
Researcher
Larimer County Genealogical Society