If you’re a genealogist, you know the importance of finding and collecting your ancestors’ vital records. You’ll want to ensure you get all the important details about them that may be stepping-off points for other avenues of research.
Birth Records
The more you explore your family history, the more likely you will find secrets buried in the tangled web of your past. The discoveries may reveal and make you feel more connected to your roots or strengthen your sense of identity. Still, they can also be devastating, bringing to terrible light events or experiences your ancestors faced that you never knew about. One of the most important records to find is a birth certificate. But, how to find birth records and what is the needed process?
Birth records can give you the names of your ancestors, their exact date and place of birth, and other details such as occupation, marital status and other essential facts about them. However, getting a birth certificate can be tricky, as most states have very strict requirements regarding who can obtain them. This means you might need to rely on other sources of information, such as old newspapers and family Bibles or church baptismal records. While these are the earliest records you can typically find, they may not be complete or accurate. In some cases, they may be missing information like a name change, which was very common at that time.
Marriage Records
Generally speaking, birth certificates are one of the first records that genealogists think about. It is a vital record kept under governmental authority and is essential to the identity of anyone born in the United States.
If you are looking for a birth certificate for an ancestor, start by researching the state in which they were born. Often, records for births in the early 19th century are more difficult to find than other vital records.
However, you can still get a copy of their birth certificate by writing to the Department of Health and Human Services in your state. They have online forms for requesting a birth certificate and will accept an application mailed to them as well. Another helpful resource is the National Center for Health Statistics, which has free access to all birth certificates in the United States. They also publish a monthly report that provides an easy-to-read overview of all the births in the United States. Marriage records are another key record for ancestry research. They are held under the governmental authority and are an official record of a couple’s marriage. You can find marriage records by searching the county clerk’s office in your state and city. Some counties, such as New York State, have many records.
Death Records
Death Records are often overlooked in genealogy research, but they can tell you a lot about your ancestors’ lives. They can be stepping-off points for additional avenues of research and can even reveal hidden family secrets.
You’ll want to collect as many vital records as possible and read every single line. This way, you’ll have the complete picture of your ancestors’ lives. The United States has no official record-keeping requirements for births or marriages so you can find these important documents in church records and old newspapers, among other places. However, you might need to request a record from the local vital statistics office for information that’s more specific than what’s found in those archives. In 1880-81, New York began statewide registration of births, marriages, and deaths (called “vital records”) under the supervision of state and local boards of health. However, full compliance wasn’t achieved for several years, so certificates are lacking for many events.
One of the reasons is that the state’s registrars needed to be more staffed and trained, so they missed more than they should have. In addition, many records were misfiled or incomplete.
Researchers can find microfiche copies of these older indexes by contacting the State Department of Health. They started in 1880 and go back 75 years for births, 50 years for marriages, and 25 years for death certificates.
Census Records
If you’ve tried using birth records to uncover the secrets behind your ancestry but have yet to find what you’re looking for, it may be time to turn to Census Records. These records are important to your research because they capture a lot of relevant information about a household’s location and population. Although a census was never meant to document other details like age, marital status or birth dates, it can be an invaluable tool for genealogists. It’s best to start with the most recent census available and work backward in your research.
When searching census records, it’s crucial to understand the purpose of the record and how it was intended to be used. Often, questions were asked as best as possible without any substantiating evidence being required.
As a result, many of the inaccuracies that can be seen in these records were caused by residents’ answers to these questions. Fortunately, modern technology has made it easier for researchers to check the accuracy of this evidence. Once you’ve checked the census data and compiled other records that confirm or refute your findings, it’s time to analyze what you learned. This will help you learn more about your ancestor, identify new family members, and uncover a complete story of his life.
