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Few vital records are online. Indeed, some argue that no actual records are online, only transcriptions, copies and indexes. Besides actual vital records, other secondary sources can be found. Obituaries, birth and wedding announcements can all provide enough information to get a certificate. Vital record directories can point you in the right direction for ordering that certificate.Vital RecordsSince currently only a few geographic locations have vital records available, it is best to search for these. Cyndi's List will most likely link to any online resource for vital records. The GenWeb page might also have links to relevant vital records. Basic search engines, like Yahoo and Lycos, can also yield results.Social Security Death Index (SSDI)The greatest of all indexes for U.S. based genealogists is the Social Security Death Index. Many people who have died in the United States after 1962 are listed in the index. Several sites have this database available for free. You can search using just a surname, or filling in as much information as you have to narrow the search (including birth date, last residence, death date).
SSDI sites are: Learn a bit about this index before concluding that an ancestor who "should" be listed is somehow excluded. Ancestry has an article about the SSDI. Other IndexesAgain, vital records are location-dependent. GenWeb and Cyndi's can assist. An obituary index might be available on the web site for the hometown newspaper. Ancestry.com does have a number of databases, including some vital records indexes (some of these require payment). Ultimate Family Tree also has a Genealogy records and indexes online, concentrated in Pennsylvania and Virginia.Cemetery records are being recorded in the Tombstone Project. Map SitesParticularly for events prior to 1910, many vital records in the United States are kept at the county level. Some records are kept there even today. Each state is different. Indeed, each county is different. So, first of course, you need to know which county you're in.Several free mapping sites are available online. For the United States, my favorite is the US Geological Service. A quick form, with many searchable fields, quickly generates a list of possible features that meet the criteria. An optional map is included. For Central and Eastern Europe sites, check ShtetlSeeker. AddressesAfter using the index to find out the probable date of birth and the map site to find out in which county it occurred, you need the address for the county courthouse. Again, in the U.S., the Center for Disease Control lists, by state, which records for which years are kept by whom. The required fee and proper address are also listed. County listings can be found at http://vitalrec.com/index.html |
