A: U.S. RECORDS
1: Records
2: Location, Maps, Geo
3: Regions / States
4: Timelines & Histories |
B: VITAL RECORDS
1: Vital Rec.
2: Birth
3: Adoption
4: Marriage
5: Death, Obits
6: Cemetery |
C: CENSUS
1: Records
2: By Decades |
D: IMMIGRATION
1: Records
2: Passenger / Nat.
3: Other
4: Migration |
E: MILITARY
1: Records
2: By Conflict |
F: OTHER RECORDS
1: Religious
2: Land, Probate, Tax
3: Court
4: News.
5: Arch. / Lib.
6: Help
7: Misc.
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Part B: U.S. Vital Records
Goal B1: Understand vital records.
Birth, marriage, and death records, commonly known as vital records, are great resources for locating and verifying your ancestors' information. Note that "certificates" (such as birth certificates) is a fairly recent term, so this goal focuses on "birth records" to be more inclusive.
3:54
ChoicesVault
A Learn about vital records in the United States.
Summary
- Learn the history of vital records in the U.S.
- Learn strategies for searching U.S. vital records.
- Know what other records and sources may contain vital information, including alternatives to vital records.
- Basics: Get an overview of types of vital records and where to find them.
MH: Vital Records: How to Find Birth, Marriage & Death Records - 2023
FS Wiki—United States Vital Records
- Learn more about United States vital records.
AAC—Vital Records—4:33
FS—U.S. Vital Records Handout
QUIZ - Learn how to locate vital records in the United States.
GTV—Where to Find Birth, Marriage, Divorce, and Death Records for Genealogy—11:46 - 2018
BYU— Finding Birth, Marriage, and Death Records—22:31 - 2014 - More: Learn about vital records in more depth in these videos.
FS—United States Vital Records—59:00
FS—Finding Your Ancestors in Vital Records—53:51 - Here are some tips for deciding whether a vital record was created.
AR—Does That Record Even Exist?—20:52 - 2013
FS—United States Civil Records - Learn how to extend your searches beyond vital records.
BYU—Moving Beyond Birth, Marriage and Death Records—58:15 - 2013
- Learn about surname origins in the United States.
AC—Last Names and Their Meanings
B Explore resources for vital records in the U.S.
- Learn more about vital records and explore resources in this article.
FS—Finding Your Ancestors in Vital Records—6 pgs. - 2015 - Ordering: Learn how to order vital records from state agencies.
LT—Ordering Vital Records from State Agencies - Explore the vitalrec.com site for steps to follow in ordering vital records in the United States.
- Alternatives: Learn to find U.S. vital records and alternative sources.
AC—Finding Vital Records and Alternatives—8 pgs. - 2016.
RT—Finding Substitutes for Vital Records - 2019 - Learn more about alternatives to vital records in research.
LT—3 Vital Record Substitutes You Can Use in Your Genealogy Research - Offline Records: Find U.S. vital records that are offline.
FHD: Offline Vital Records are Critical to Your Research - 2023 - StevenMorse: Access the
stevenmorse.org website to explore a variety of U.S. vital records.
- * Good: Using the articles and videos in this Choice, write down key learnings for all of the following topics: About vital records, finding vital records. Then use the learnings for vital record searches for a U.S. ancestor.
- * Proficient: Same as above, for two or more ancestors.