Vital records: Finding single sources

Some types of records record only births or provide evidence for approximating birth date. The most valuable of these, oftentimes, is birth certificates. Inexperienced family historians often expect to find these for all their ancestors, but most states only began requiring them in the 20th Century. For example, universal recording of vital records in Missouri began in 1910. Family historians can request birth certificates from the issuing agency in the appropriate state. In Missouri, the individual or immediate family member can request unofficial copies of vital records at the local public health agency. Requests for formal copies of vital records and instructions are at: health.mo.gov/data/vitalrecords/obtain-vital-record.php.

Some records can provide an approximation to birth year. The appearance of an ancestor in a tax list, depending on the authority, would mean they had turned 21, or 16, depending on the law. Naturalization records also sometimes give age.

The implementation of social security and other government needs resulted in most states issuing delayed birth certificates for those who were born before requirements for recording births. These are usually available through the same process used for regular birth certificates. Social Security Applications include birth dates, as do other government records such as draft registrations.

Death certificates are a detailed source of information on individuals. The first thing to emphasize is that most states implemented death certificates recently -- since about 1900. The availability of these certificates ranges from digital copies online, usually restricted for a specified number of years (for Missouri, 50), to absolutely restricted and only available to lineal descendants of the decedent. Check state-level websites to determine access for the state of interest. Cause of death is usually listed, but if not, there is a code on the certificate for the cause. Cause of death codes are available at: wolfbane.com/icd/. These codes change over time, so make sure you access the codes in force for the death year.

The Missouri State Archives has made death certificates 50 years and older available online in a searchable database: s1.sos.mo.gov/records/archives/archivesmvc/deathcertificates. Searchers can search by county, given name, portions of surnames and date range. Items researchers often miss also include the internment site, physician's name, birthplace, parents' birthplaces and informant's name.

An earlier effort in Missouri to record births and deaths existed in 1883-1893 and up to 1910 in some jurisdictions. The law passed by the General Assembly required counties to record births and deaths, but lax enforcement resulted in counties recording variable proportions of births and deaths. Researchers access the information at: s1.sos.mo.gov/records/archives/archivesdb/birthdeath/.

If your ancestor died within a year of a federal census year between 1850 and 1880, their death record may be in a special mortality schedule prepared by the census taker. Depending on the state, these are on Ancestry, FamilySearch or specialized sites for individual states. Digitized schedules for Missouri's are accessible via: s1.sos.mo.gov/records/archives/archivesdb/census/ .

Marriage records are more likely to exist from the late 1800s onward. Civil registers kept at the county level may include such documents as marriage intentions, applications, consent forms (identifying a parent for an underage bride or groom), licenses, returns from ministers or civil authorities, and marriage certificates. Information may only include the names and a date or may have extensive information such as parents or birthplace of the parties. Many states require marriage bonds in earlier days. These were bonds posted by the groom, relatives and/or friends to ensure the marriage would take place.

Some church denominations conducted marriages via the public declaration of banns. Marriage banns are an announcement of intention to wed by a couple, and clergy usually declared these three times. Federal censuses, depending on the year, may list the number of years married, whether the marriage is the first or subsequent marriage, or other information.

Divorces were far less common in early days and are in court records. In Missouri, Circuit Courts handled divorces, although in some instances the records are in the Supreme Court records at: s1.sos.mo.gov/Records/Archives/ArchivesDb/supremecourt/.

As with all genealogical records, you should analyze vital records. Crucial information includes the identity of the informant, differences in handwriting on the record indicating diverse sources, comparison of dates among and within records, noting missing information, interpreting any codes used, and checking the record against laws of the time. Always work with the original source if you can find it. Compare dates among records and try and explain differences and which date might be correct. Finally, all vital records in online trees are clues, not the final word.