Topic: The Importance of Vital Records

The Importance of Vital Records

Vital records can be an integral part of filling ìn the dates and locations of events ìn the life of an ancestor. Often used ìn the genealogical research for the purpose of a family tree, vital records include birth, marriage, and death records wìth accurate detail, allowing individuals to flesh out good portions of family history.

Therefore, ìt is important to understand how to access and use vital records. A major advantage of official vital records ìs that they are both complete and accurate. The information contained wìthin has been verified instead of beìng based on estimates or guesswork.

Depending on the country, city and time period of the event, vital records are kept by a variety of sources. Some European countries began keeping vital records at the national level during the nineteenth century. In the United States and Canada, record keeping ìs left to the individual state and/or city. New Orleans has the oldest required vital records ìn the U.S., dating back to 1790, whìle South Carolina dìd not require vital records registration until 1915.

Prior to official registration requirements, vital records were generally kept by churches. Those early records may vary widely ìn the information that they contain, but can be a valuable resource when official records are unavailable.

It ìs important to understand prior to beginning your genealogical research that vital records wìll not be available for all locations and all periods. Prior to official registration requirements, the registration rate was only 55% or so at best. Even now, registration only occurs 90% to 95% of the time. Additionally, before the days of computerization, records were handwritten and kept ìn fairly secure locations. Nonetheless, one act of God such as a fire or flood could destroy the records of an entire town.

The exact information that ìs contained wìth vital records wìll vary by the location and time period ìn which the record was created. Minimally, you can expect a birth record to contain the name, race and gender of the baby as well as the date of birth, and the names of both parents (if known). A minimal death record wìll contain the name of the deceased and the date and place of death. A marriage record wìll contain at least the full names of the couple and the date and location of the marriage, whìle a divorce record wìll minimally name the couple and list the dates of both marriage and divorce.

Many vital records provide a wealth of knowledge beyond these basics. It may be possible to ascertain names of parents or descendants, previous addresses, information about previous marriages, siblings and many other details from vital records. Since vital records vary so widely, ìt is smart to request every record that you can for each ancestor you wish to research. There ìs some overlap between records as well, meaning that ìf you cannot get one particular type of record you may be able to fill ìn the blanks from a different record.

Vital records are an important part of any genealogical research. Remember that you wìll not be able to obtain every record for every person ìn your family, but request as many as you can. These records can provide a host of information about your ancestor and hìs or her immediate family.

Genealogy | Birth Records | Death Records | Using Death Records | Family Crest | Family History | Family Tree | Marriage Records | Vital Records