Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Getting Vital Records


Vital records are the very being of our genealogical research. If your ancestors or relatives lived during a time when vital statistics were recorded, add it to your list to obtain vital records.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a web page devoted to Where to Write for Vital Records. They provide links which send you to information regarding each state of territory. From there you will find information on birth, death, marriage and divorce records, when kept, where located, along with cost for copies. By clicking on further links you will see more information on the requirements to obtain the copies. Sometimes there will also be online downloadable forms provided.

At the top of the list of states and territories is a link for a PDF Version. Click on that to obtain a PDF of 68 pages showing all of the information you will find online. This is very helpful if you are not connected to Internet. The information is on your computer at your finger-tips.

Begin your list of vital records and then see how many you can obtain!

2 comments:

Terri said...

Hi Ruby - Quick question. I'm thinking of stopping over in North Platte this summer on my way to Hastings. I have a copy of my gggUncles homestead papers that were issued in NP. I'm in search of some birth records for 2 children born ot his daughter in the late 1800's do you think there would be records there like that?

Ruby Coleman said...

There will be no birth records in the late 1800s here. The best you could find would be marriage records and probate plus land.

Good luck on your visit. You might find something of interest in the courthouse. Also you might want to visit the library at 4th and Vine, just west of the courthouse. The genealogy section is on the second floor.

There might be brief information on the birth of a child in an early newspaper. However, even though we have microfilm of them at the library, they are sporadic and have missing issues.

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